Malaysian Airline should be private thinks former Prime Minister

Malaysia’s state-owned national carrier has been in financial problem for some time.

Privatization could be the answer to Malaysia Airlines’ profitability after efforts to turn it around had been unsuccessful, said Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir bin Mohamad was born July 10, 1925) and is a Malaysian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia’s longest serving Prime Minister. His political career spanned almost 40 years.

He remains an active political figure in his retirement, having become a strident critic of his handpicked successor, Abdullah Badawi, and actively supporting Abdullah’s replacement by Najib Razak.

He said through privatization, MAS’ management would have to be serious in finding ways to make profits, whereas, as a government-linked company, the perception was that it was alright for MAS to even record losses.

“There are people who think that GLCs are meant to provide employment opportunities and not to make money for the company or the government.

“Privatizing MAS may change this and the airline can probably make money instead of losses,” he said, adding that his experience with Proton was a good example where after the national car manufacturer was privatized, the management was more conscious about the company’s profit and loss.

The former prime minister said there were sufficient local talent to manage the airline should it be privatized, instead of selling it to foreigners.

Talk of the sale of MAS resurfaced recently, with several parties believed to have sent in proposals to the Government to buy over the loss-making airline.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala had said that the government did not have any plans to sell MAS and was implementing the recommendation to rationalize its role in business under the new economic model.