BERNAMA OR STAR SPIN?

Among other things, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, the former MAS Managing Director, wrote on  5 April

2012

Currently the staff morale is very low and action should be taken to improve the situation quickly.  The membership of the Board and the senior management must be examined and reconstituted.  People with high integrity, the right knowledge, experience and with the national interest at heart, should provide the leadership of the organization as soon as possible.

but Bernama or Star wrote         

Abdul Aziz said it was more appropriate for employees to give full support to the management for any plans to change its business model as such plans were necessary to keep MAS in business.

Tan Sri wrote

It should be noted that the current management is now actively engaged in negotiating the sale of assets in engineering, training etc.  It is important that the activities be suspended immediately otherwise it will be too late to take remedial measures.  The proposed formation of joint-venture companies relating to engineering, training etc. should also be suspended before it is too late.

But they wrote

Former MAS chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman has appealed to the airline's workers' unions not to make rash decisions over business plans by its management to turn around the ailing national carrier.

Thursday May 17, 2012

Former MAS chairman asks unions not to make rash decisions

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/5/17/nation/20120517173601&sec=nation

KUALA LUMPUR: Former MAS chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman has appealed to

the airline's workers' unions not to make rash decisions over business plans by its management

to turn around the ailing national carrier.

At the same time, he said it was also imperative that cooperation and support from the airline's

20,000 employees be sought and obtained otherwise such plans would fail.

"But I would urge all MAS employees to be more patient and not to take hasty actions that are

not within the law," he said in an interview with Bernama.

MAS' share swap agreement with budget airline AirAsia had to be unwound two weeks ago

following strong resistance from MAS employees' unions.

Abdul Aziz said it was more appropriate for employees to give full support to the

management for any plans to change its business model as such plans were necessary

to keep MAS in business.

"MAS needs a new business model and any new business model certainly requires other

changes to take place in the process," he said.

Abdul Aziz, who helmed MAS for over 20 years from the mid-1970's, said the employees must

also brace themselves for the Asean Open Skies Policy in 2015 under which all existing

restrictions for airlines in the region flying into each other's territory would be dismantled.

He said despite the scrapping of the share swap, collaboration between MAS and AirAsia in

other areas would result in a win-win situation for both if it was carried out in a rational manner.

"When such collaboration runs smoothly, I am confident MAS will once again rise to become a

competitive and profitable airline," he said.

On the larger picture, Abdul Aziz said MAS was set up as a premier full-service airline right from

the start.

"Suddenly 10 years, another airline emerged to compete with MAS by offering low fares," he

said referring to AirAsia.

"This itself created a competition. Basically the market in our region is a low-fare market.

"So I think, MAS has no choice but to compete. This means MAS can do both premier service

and budget airline service and it could succeed in the competition.

"We can learn from AirAsia as well as learning from other budget airlines. MAS has to compete

otherwise it will continue to plunge," he said. - Bernama