FIFTY-FIVE contract pilots, all aged 60 and above, have been told by national carrier Malaysia Airlines that their services will be terminated after being assured of their job security.

One of the affected veteran pilots, Captain Rajkumar Henry, 63, said Malaysia Airlines had disregarded its contract and terminated them without any compensation.

With almost 17,000 flying hours under his belt as a pilot, Rajkumar, said he was being unfairly treated despite is loyal service of 46 years.

He said he was one of those initial batches who were offered a five-year fixed-term contract upon hitting the age of 60 – the retirement age at the company.

However, he was terminated with two years left to run on his contract, a similar situation faced by other contract pilots in his age group.

“In 2018, I was 60 years old and was one of those initial batches who was offered a five-year fixed-term contract.

“Subsequently over the years, those who hit the age of 60 were given a five-year fixed-term contract extension.

“But now (half way through the contract period) the airline’s management had decided to terminate all those (contract) pilots above the age of 60 due to coronavirus,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Having joined Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) back in 1975 as an apprentice aircraft ground engineer, he went on to become a flight engineer for 12 years with the airlines.

Then through opportunity, determination and ambition, Rajkumar made his dream into reality when he took pilot training in 1993, when he was 35 years old.

The national carrier took on some of the cost for his piloting training.

In 1994, he became a pilot, and in 2000, he became a captain.

As a pilot, he has flown the Boeing 737, Airbus A330 and Airbus A350, while as a flight engineer, he has flown the Airbus A300 and DC10-30.

He said despite many others moving on since Malaysia Airlines Systems (MAS) rebranded itself in 2015 as Malaysian Airlines Berhad (MAB), he has stuck with the airline.

Last year, the Covid-19 pandemic kept borders closed; meaning airlines became one of the hardest-hit sectors.

As part of cost-saving measures, last April the airline cut salaries of ther top earners by almost 60% to balance the finance of the company, he said.

He said they were also told to go on a six-week unpaid leave last year.

Despite unhappiness about the decision, Rajkumar said no one protested because the company pledged that all staff could be retained.

He said even in an e-town hall meeting with the top management last year, they were assured of being retained.

However, in December 2020, Rajkumar said the company backtracked on their word and issued a termination letter for the 55 contract pilots, citing Covid-19 and financial issues.

Zero compensation

He said the company offered no compensation but just served a standard three-months notice.

He said they were told in the e-town hall meeting that the company might decide to keep these pilots, failing which it would pay them the balance of their contract.

“We thought we were safe, but in December, they issued the termination letter, citing Covid-19.

“We were given a standard three-month notice and we’ve been working for that period. Technically, they are paying us because we are working, not compensation,” he said.

He said they had raised questions about their contracts, balance payments for the duration of the contract period and termination, to which the company simply cited Covid-19 and financial crisis as the reason. 

“We got zero compensation. We did write to the company to ask why there was a change of mind on terminating the contract workers.

“We even asked about management previously saying that the balance of contract will be paid if (we were) terminated. 

“We received an answer saying that it was said in good faith, previously but now the company was not making money, thus can’t pay them. This is the reply we got,” he said.

Rajkumar said while he understood that the airline was not making money, it still had legal obligations to these pilots.

He said despite making several suggestions for an amicable solution, their advances were rejected.

“I can accept the fact that they want to reduce costs and terminate our services because of that, but honour the contract and pay us the balance. 

“I think that is fair; or come to the negotiating table and let’s try to work out a solution.

“They have not done that. We suggested a few things and they rejected everything,” he said, adding that all of the 55 pilots had been with the airline since the 1970s.

Bad precedent 

Rajkumar said their contractual termination will be effective from March 1.

“Despite being a week away from being terminated, we are still hoping for an amicable settlement.

“We just want our balance of the contract to be paid. I’ve served them for almost 46 years and I don’t want to leave Malaysia Airlines in this way, having to fight to what is rightfully mine.

“They gave us three months notice but not compensation,” said Rajkumar.

He said the 55 pilots will look into other avenues if no settlement was reached.

He said Malaysia Airlines would create a bad precedent if it is allowed to terminate an employee without having to pay any compensation.

“If they could do this to employees who have worked 30 to 40 years in their company, then it’s setting a bad precedent in Malaysia.

“If Malaysia Airlines gets away with this, every other company is going to start doing it,” he said.

Last year, the cash-strapped national carrier requested financial support from its sole shareholder, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, as debt-restructuring talks with creditors and lessors ran beyond its deadline of October 11.

The talk in the market was that Malaysia Airlines was seeking as much as US$500 million in fresh capital from Khazanah.

On November 14, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said it was up to Khazanah to see through the debt restructuring of Malaysia Airlines.

The national flag carrier has won numerous awards from the aviation industry, being crowned ‘The World’s 5-Star Airline’ by Skytrax multiple times (2009, 2012 and 2013) and recognition from the World Travel Awards as ‘Asia’s Leading Airline’ (2010, 2011 and 2013). – February 22, 2021.