Malaysian Airlines corporate mismanagement goes back decades

Malaysian Airlines, the flag carrier whose MH370 Boeing 777-200 disappeared on March 8 without a trace into the Indian Ocean, has been given high marks as a quality airline.

Malaysian Airlines, the flag carrier whose MH370 Boeing 777-200 disappeared on March 8 without a trace into the Indian Ocean, has been given high marks as a quality airline. Nonetheless it has a troubled corporate history and a series of scrapes going back almost to the launch of its flying operations in 1972.

The publicly traded airlineโ€™s most recent annual reports indicate losses skyrocketed by 171 percent to RM1.17 billion ($359.12 million). That follows years of lackluster performance, management changes and exploitation by cronies connected to the countryโ€™s ruling Barisan Nasional, or national coalition, particularly the United Malays National Organization. It has been the subject of repeated โ€œturnaround plansโ€ that turned out to be cul-de-sacs. The 2013 losses followed 2011 losses of RM2.52 billion, the largest in the airlineโ€™s history. The losses were laid to rising fuel costs and mismanagement, forcing it to cut back eight international routes.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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