Malaysia Airlines executive director upbeat about outlook

 

“We will fix it ... it will be fixed. We (also) have to grow after that and move forward. It has to be better, better and better,” Bellew said at a media briefing organised by French-Italian aircraft manufacturer Avions de Transport Regional (ATR).

 

“I am here eight months, and I have never a moment of doubt about this,” he added.

 

Bellew, however, would not share how much work is still left to be done to fix the airline, which reported its first profit in February this year after several years of losses and suffering two air disasters in 2014.

 

“It is a bit early ... but there are numerous examples that we are starting to see progress,” he said, adding that “we need to improve our sales, that is part of what we are doing right now, and things are improving quite rapidly. A lot of operational things are coming together quite well, on-time performance and we are getting much better at delivering bags on time”.

 

“Our aircraft are going through a massive process of refurbishment. We are also doing a complete overhaul of the (Airbus) A330, changing the processes, and our first heavy maintenance for the A380 has begun,” Bellew said.

 

He was appointed executive director nearly two weeks ago after CEO Christoph Mueller decided to resign due to a change in personal circumstances. Mueller will leave MAS in September this year.

 

Bellew, when asked to describe his first few days on the job as the new executive director, said, “Not much has changed. This is a 24/7 hour/day business. It has not altered my day-to-day job, although with a few extra responsibilities. It has been busy and good fun,” he added.

 

Bellew comes armed with over 30 years of experience in the airline and tourism industries.

 

As for the A350 aircraft, he said four would arrive in the third quarter of 2017, initially plying the region and later some will be deployed for the London route, which is the only European destination that MAS flies directly to now.

 

“As for the A380 aircraft, we need it till the middle of 2018 at least, and there are no immediate requirements after that,” he said.

 

Yesterday, he announced that ATR would increase its spares to the value of RM70mil. MAS provides maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services in the region for the ATR planes. There are three other players providing MRO services for ATR planes in the country.

 

MAS has also hammered out a joint venture to set up a centre for the overhaul and repair of turboprop propeller blades for the region with US-based Aircraft Propeller Services (APS).

 

To Bellew, these two new initiatives are a “great opportunity” and a huge boost to fixing MAS, as these ventures will help the airline generate jobs, revenue and profits.

 

The tie-up with APS is the first out of Europe and the Americas and can cater to all the 370 ATR planes operating in the region.

 

Since it involves the engineering units, Bellew believes there is a need to redeploy and retrain its workforce and hire young engineers, mostly for jobs in Sabah and Sarawak.

 

MAS will embark on a plan to send some of its engineers to Europe and New Zealand for training.

 

“We will take on third-party works sometime in the second half of next year for the ATR (MRO business). For minor works, we will be ready by the fourth quarter of this year,” Bellew said.

 

MAS has 30 ATR aircraft in its system plying 35 routes, used by Firefly and MASwings. Eight more are on order, whose delivery dates have yet to be decided.

 

It has carried four million passengers and Bellew believes the tourism potential in both Sabah and Sarawak has not been fully exploited, as he feels “we have only scratched the surface”.

 

He said the ATR aircraft would remain an important component to MAS although there are no plans to buy more aircraft. The priority is to push for higher loads and expand to newer points.

 

The airline will look to change its seats in the third quarter of this year for the 30 ATR planes to save fuel cost and for better flexibility.