THE government needs a detailed study into the problems facing Malaysia Airlines Berhad before deciding the airlines’ future, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He added that previous efforts taken to revive the carrier were not sensible, resulting in the company dwindling in the red.

“We cut 6,000 jobs and reduced the number of destinations,” he said, alluding that these measures had failed to help the airline.

“This means the ratio of personnel to the routes being flown is still the same,” he told reporters on the final day of his visit to Pakistan.

Dr Mahathir said the government was also willing to consider a private takeover of the airline

He added offers or suggestions, including the private sector, will be looked into.

The prime minister’s press conference was broadcast live on RTM.

He previously said several parties had expressed interest in buying over the airline.

Earlier this week, Dr Mahathir said the government was assessing plans to sell Malaysia Airlines after offers had come in. 

“There are those who want to buy the airline. As such, we have not rejected (the idea of selling) and want to assess the offers.  

“Although we have hired foreigners to manage the airline, it is still losing money. One of the ways (to turn it around) is to sell it.”

He said the offers have comes from local and foreign parties.

He also said the government was assessing the possibility of keeping the airlines.

“We have many aircraft that are not fully utilised and they are incurring losses.

 “Personally, I love MAS and want to maintain it as a national airline. But it seems that we are unable to.” 

He said the government had given RM6 billion to save Malaysia Airlines but the new management retrenched more than 6,000 staff members.

“After that, MAS did not offer as many flights. This means that the reduction of workers made no difference. Reducing staff and flights meant there were no improvements.”

The carrier’s last known net loss was RM812 million in 2017. Khazanah reported a RM7.3 billion impairment cost last year, of which half was due to MAS.  

Prior to the privatisation plan by Khazanah in 2014, the government had injected some RM17.4 billion into the company. Since then, Khazanah has pledged to inject another RM6 billion. – March 23, 2019