MH370 Course On Simulator

Not for the first time, the 1MDB fiasco is being overshadowed by the the MH370 news: Malaysia Confirms Flight 370 Course Was on Pilot's Simulator.

Australian officials overseeing the search for the plane last month said data recovered from Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah's simulator included a flight path to the southern Indian Ocean. Malaysian officials at the time refused to confirm the findings.

On Thursday, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told local journalists that the flight path was found on the simulator. He also cautioned there were "thousands" of destinations on the simulator and no evidence that Zaharie flew the plane in that area or deliberately crashed it.

I think the captain is being thrown under the bus, with the option of retracting the accusation, should it not become necessary anymore.

Aviation blogger Jeff Wise notes that some numbers and data do not match.

I personally think it's been cooked up.

The reason I say this is because if someone was on a suicide mission, they wouldn't meticulously plan the details of their death, and certainly not on a flight simulator which was a passion of Capt Zaharie. Depression and passion don't mix.

Now, if he was homicidal, on the other hand, and out to kill as many people as possible, you'd think he'd at least state his reasons for the attack on other humans. At least leave a note. Even bloody ISIS knows how to do that.

I believe this guy.

It appears to me that the Malaysian government is yet again using the MH370 to distract people from the dirty issue of funds embezzlement.

The Restructuring Of Malaysia Airlines

If you've been following the news of the Malaysia Airlines restructuring plan, you'd probably have heard about the new CEO, Christoph Mueller.

I am not impressed.

What Malaysia Airlines experienced in the past year is unprecedented.

This sort of crisis is not resolved by hiring some foreigner who has no clue what the real issues are.

I imagine he has showed up for the money.

If you're wondering, folks, there is RM6bil involved in this restructuring exercise, and a sizeable chunk of it would be his salary.

I say this on the assumption that he is paid more than he was in the past - in 2013, he was paid over €1.5 million (that's RM6.24 million).

This is all while he calmly fires 6,000 employees - some of those who, out of loyalty, chose to remain with the company, while others - about 200 of them - decided they were better off elsewhere. It was probably a good decision to leave.

I predict that he himself will leave without making any improvements to Malaysia Airlines.

He will also undoubtedly have a totally unremarkable quote when he leaves. "It was an impossible task," or "The damage was beyond repair."

Malaysia Airlines has been in the red since 2010. This is very baffling situation, because it's not the first time - back in 2006, Malaysia Airlines was also decidedly unprofitable.

Then some powers-that-be decided to bring in a relative unknown named Idris Jala. Read what Flight Global has to say about him.

Idris Jala joined Malaysia Airlines with a remit to turn the carrier's burgeoning losses into profits. That goal has been met but there remains a long road to reinvention

At this time two years ago, Malaysia Airlines was in deep trouble. It had just reported the biggest-ever loss in its history. Today, posters are going up at its offices with the words "Record Profits". It is a remarkable turn of events for an airline that not so long ago warned it was likely to fail without an immediate and sweeping restructuring.

But chief executive Idris Jala is cautioning staff that while they should be celebrating successes, the restructuring effort is far from complete. Deeper, structural change now needs to take place to turn MAS into what he calls "the world's five star value ­carrier" - essentially a high-quality airline with the cost base of a budget operator.

According to the grapevine, there were lots of changes that he made, and very few of them were earth shattering. They mostly involved getting rid of cronies who were making ridiculous profits by selling their good and services at over-inflated prices.

A bottle of water for RM30. Maintenance equipment like wrenches for thousands.

Idris Jala put an end to this and voila, in 2008, the company turned around and made "record profits."

Read this account by Rashid Khan in The Malaysian Insider - MAS turnaround story was real

In the meantime, Malaysia has had its general elections. In an effort to remain in power, Malaysia Airlines was enlisted by the BN government to ferry voters around. That could not have been cheap.

Back then, they probably had no idea that this level of catastrophe could ever happen.

Perhaps that's why they need a foreigner.

So that he doesn't go digging around and finding skeletons in the closet.

Intensify Efforts To Find MH370 Or Just Stop?

It's been well over a year, and there is not a single trace of the MH370.

The world is curious, Malaysians are intrigued, and the families of the victims are still anxious to find closure and say a final goodbye to their loved ones.

The absence of a wreckage and remains sparks hope that maybe, just maybe, their loved ones could still be alive. This is not helpful.

The Malaysian government, in a rare moment of decency, has actually promised to double efforts and extend the search area if it wasn't found by the end of June.

However, an aviation professor from Australia opines that it is hard to justify expanded efforts, which have since exceeded $90 million.

“I’m not in the position of being one of the relatives, and I deeply sympathize with their situation,” he stressed. “However, once the areas of highest priority have been searched there are diminishing returns when increasing the area.

“This means there’s a huge amount of money being spent, and if you’re looking at saving lives through improving future safety outcomes, then the money is arguably much better spent in a whole variety of other areas rather than just ‘mowing the lawn’ in the ocean trying to find something.”

He also thinks that the cause of the crash was pilot suicide.

As there has been no established motive for suicide, no signs of depression or abnormality, no threats or notes, and seemingly, no quick plan to destroy the plane (they purportedly flew about for hours after straying from flight path), this conjecture doesn't seem likely at all.

For the sake of the families, I want this aircraft found too.

But like many other people, I somehow feel it wouldn't be found in the Indian Ocean, not because it is too difficult, but because we might all be looking in the wrong place.

Criticism Over The MH370

In hindsight, it's easy to criticise the Malaysian government.

It is, for the most part, a rather stupid government, but given that the MH370 has completely disappeared leaving no trace of wreckage or evidence of having hit the ground at some point, there seems to be more to this than meets the eye.

There has been nothing regular about this flight since it signed off from Malaysian airspace. To accuse the authorities of negligence when there has been no evidence of being able to recover the airplane before it disappeared is ambitious.

It doesn't stop people from embarking upon some criticism though. For instance, some "aviation expert" claims that the plane could have been found if "proper protocols" had been followed.

He conveniently fails to describe said protocols. So much for being an expert.

I can understand that there has been closure for the family of the victims and this must be troubling for them, but the search for the remains of the MH370 has been ongoing for almost 8 months, and to date, no evidence has been discovered.

What Happened to MH17?

So why did the news on the catastrophic Malaysia Airlines MH17 that was shot down over Ukraine suddenly die down?

Has there been an agreement among the major powers not to tell the world who did it?

Contrary to the MH370, the events surrounding the MH17 are much more obvious.

It was shot out of the sky by a very lethal and long range weapon.

Most of the evidence points to it being the work of filthy Russian rebels.

But shouldn't there be a proper investigation held and the results announced? It wasn't just Malaysians affected, but plenty of Dutch nationals as well.

What's happened to the flight data (black box) and cockpit voice recorders?

Read what Professor Stephen Cohen has to say.

Nearly 200 Cabin Crew Resign From Malaysia Airlines

Okay, despite all the fear amidst the two tragedies befalling MAS, I still was not expecting this.

I can understand that morale must be low.

The staff are no longer working for what was once known as a fairly prestigious airlines.

The way MAS officials and the Malaysian government handled the crises was less than exemplary. They were defensive, uncoordinated, perpetually confused and clearly unaccustomed to dealing with a tough international media.

The average Malaysian was embarrassed.

I get the impression that MAS staff were even more embarrassed.

Their families were worried for them. And consequently, nearly 200 cabin crew have resigned from Malaysia Airlines within the last 7 months.

That's a pretty big number even for an organisation of 19,500 employees.

Frankly, both the incidents were beyond MAS culpability. They were random, unforeseen and highly unlikely to occur again.

However, those tragedies were probably the straw that broke the camel's back, and now the employees have had enough.

Enough of the corruption, the constant debts, cronyism and poor management of the airlines.

The business model was not bad, but too many parasites wanted a slice of the pie.

What a shame.

Malaysia Airlines Cabin Pressure Glitch

The Aviation Herald reports that:

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200, registration 9M-MRH performing flight MH-70 from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Tokyo Narita (Japan), was climbing out of Kuala Lumpur when the crew requested to stop the climb at FL210* due to a technical problem and to enter a holding.

The report goes on to say that the crew subsequently requested a return to KL without giving further details.

They also didn't request any priority or assistance, which obviously indicates that it wasn't a critical emergency.

They then returned to KL for a safe landing about 40 minutes after departure.

The passengers were transferred over to a replacement Boeing 777-200 registration 9M-MRE and eventually reached Tokyo with a delay of 2.5 hours.

The troubled aircraft was then able to resume service 13 hours after landing and the DCA reported that the aircraft could not maintain the needed cabin pressure.

I don't know if everyone is being overly sensitive about any incidence occurring on a Malaysia Airlines flight, but there is an extraordinary amount of reporting on MAS (including that by yours truly).

*21,000 feet above sea level

MAS Employees Want CEO To Resign

Malaysia Airlines employees are not happy.

And I can totally understand why.

They worked for a prestigious airlines, so they did a good job and for the most part, took pride in what they did.

Unfortunately, they depended a bit too much on the government for running their business. From Wall Street Journal:

The union lobbied directly to politicians including Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was then facing fiercely-contested national elections.

For Malaysia Airlines, the carrier has been struggling financially as Asian full-service carriers face a squeeze from aggressive budget carriers such as AirAsia on their short-haul routes, as well as Middle Eastern operators, such as Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways, on longer flights to Europe.

Last year, Malaysia Airlines reported a net loss of 1.17 billion ringgit ($359 million), its third consecutive year of net losses. In the first three months this year, its net loss widened to 443 million ringgit from 279 million ringgit a year earlier.

Let me tell you why they have made such a loss.

Firstly, there is too much crony involvement. Every UMNOputra wants a piece of the pie. But then, there is only so much pie.

MAS is not exactly a cash cow. It is a national airlines and it flies some unprofitable routes that have to be flown for the sake of accessibility.

Secondly, do you people remember the elections? Do you remember what happened at the airport?

Are you aware that MAS has shouldered the cost for ferrying phantom voters across from East to West Malaysia?

That is a LOT of money.

But now, the airline employees want to be more involved in how their company is run, even though it has now been delisted and does not require approval for change to be made.

And they even want the CEO to resign.

The main employees' union at Malaysia Airlines says it expects to be consulted on plans to restructure the ailing carrier before any proposals are made, and renewed its demand for the CEO to resign.

The highly-influential union, representing half of the nearly 20,000 employees at Malaysian Airline System Bhd., says it hasn't been approached by the airline's management on any plans to revive the carrier, which is reeling from the loss of two jetliners in five months that has left 537 people dead or presumed dead.

Securing the support of the Malaysian Airline System Employees Union is crucial before any restructuring can occur at the airline, which is 69.4% owned by Malaysian state investment firm Khazanah Nasional Bhd. The union earlier scuppered a share deal with rival AirAsia Bhd.

"We know why they want to restructure, but we have not seen the plan so far," said the union's president, Alias Aziz. "Our priority is staff welfare," said Mr. Aziz, who leads the biggest of eight unions that represent employees at Malaysia Airlines.

It's about time the employees took more interest in the management of their company rather than just the operations of it.

To Change Or Not To Change?

I have lost count of the number of articles I've read, postulating that Malaysia Airlines ought to change its name to get back in the game.

Some of them are linked below:

Business Standard: Malaysia Airlines to change name to boost reputation

eTN Global Travel Industry News: Malaysia Airlines: Complete brand makeover, new investors, new routes?

International Business Times: Malaysia Airlines Brand Damage May Require Name Change After MH17, MH370 Incidents

They all revolve around one concept: people eventually forgetting.

To be fair to Malaysia Airlines, I am not sure if either of the tragedies that befell them were their fault. No more unlucky than their latest escape, where they nearly crashed into another jet in Adelaide, but managed to stop just in time.

A close call, but is Malaysia Airlines jinxed? Again, it's not their fault.

Someone by the name of Michael Skapinker from Financial Times appears to agree with me in Malaysia Airlines is stuck with its name:

It is hard to see what the airline itself can learn from the tragedies. The first is still unexplained. The second was not its fault. It was flying over a war zone, but so were other respectable carriers.

Read the rest of the article to understand why a name change is pointless.

I personally think a change in management (though nothing to do with the air crashes) is needed, not a change in name.

The Future Of Malaysia Airlines

I believe that the worst of times are, ironically, the times of golden opportunity.

Malaysia Airlines has taken such a beating that fewer people would be willing to fly it, save the pragmatic, logical thinkers who know that the disasters have less to do with negligence than with pure bad luck.

However, given that Malaysia Airlines is turning into a white elephant rather than a cash cow, hopefully, the Malaysian government regards it as being a low priority and gives it to a non-crony to manage.

Naturally, as we have seen in the past, when this happens, the airlines has always managed to tighten its belt and leap back into the black after years of being in the red.

It always happens and I am looking forward to it happening again.

Radical change is what we need, and it's not going to happen within our ruling coalition and its cronies. As Malaysians, you and I know that.

TIME has a piece on it: Malaysia, the World’s Unluckiest Airline, Will Now Struggle to Survive

The next months could prove humbling for an airline that had grand ambitions. The Malaysian government had high hopes that its national carrier would compete with the region’s best, and invested much money and emotion into building it.

But Malaysia Airlines got badly squeezed in the fiercely contested Asian airline industry. Its cost base is too high to compete with lean and mean budget carrier AirAsia, also based in Kuala Lumpur. At the same time, it lacks the prestigious brand image to raise its ticket prices and take on East Asia’s more premier airlines, such as Singapore Airlines and Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific. As a result, the company has been bleeding for years.

The airline’s Kuala Lumpur–listed parent, Malaysian Airline System, has racked up losses of more than $1.4 billion since 2011. Management has tried cutting costs and improving service to turn around the airline’s fortunes, but such efforts were making only minimal progress.

The sentiments are that of foreign observers and may not necessarily have a pulse on what exactly is going on, but it gives the mood on how fragile the situation is.

Why Are We Being Punished Like This?

Two major air crashes within 4 months and involving almost 500 people is no small matter.

We Malaysians have barely recovered from the grief of MH370, not to mention the absence of closure because we never found the aircraft. We don't know why it happened.

And maybe we never will.

But why, out of the hundreds of other airlines that fly over the troubled airspace, was Malaysia Airlines yet again selected for tragedy with MH17?

Haven't we suffered enough? Are we being punished for something we did? Have we incurred the wrath of God or the universe?

Why were so many Chinese people killed? And then so many Dutch people? Did they deserve it? Do we deserve it?

Why should conflict between Russia and Ukraine affect innocent passers-by?

So many questions, but so few answers.

UPDATE
A few days after I had posted this, someone from PAS Youth again (previously about the MH370) remarked that this incident was retribution from God (or Allah) for Malaysia Airlines serving alcohol in-flight and its flight attendants (particularly female ones) wearing the uniforms that they do.

I never got round to posting about it, but I found a superb response from Azly Rahman: IS ALLAH ANGRY at THE MALAYSIAN AIRLINE? and at Muslims?

Politics And The MH370

I was going to avoid blogging about this MH370 fiasco because it is a difficult situation to handle -- for any authority, be they some third world country or a purportedly developed nation (the kind that spies on its citizens but has atrociously third world banking technology).

But three things have annoyed me. Firstly, the Malaysian government has shamed itself and the nation by insinuating that the Captain of the ill-fated MH370 was an extremist for being a life-long member of PKR and a supporter of Anwar Ibrahim.

Now, I'm not Anwar Ibrahim's biggest fan, but with regards to Captain Zaharie, I believe that anyone who stands up for democracy and wants the best for his country is a man to be admired.

Unfortunately, this insinuation was picked up by a trio of pubic lice -- who probably regard themselves as 'journalists' -- for the Daily Mail.

Now, if you have ever been to the UK or are familiar with that trashy rag, you would know that it is read by the mentally deficient, those on unemployment benefits who believe the UK is overrun by immigrants but are too lazy to get off their butts and work for a living, and other random losers.

Still, it has managed to infiltrate the news circle of other serious journalists who are now calling Captain Zaharie's integrity into question. This really annoys me.

It also annoys Peter Chong who vehemently denies that the Captain could be involved in any mischief.

Interestingly, these are feel good moments despite the gloom surrounding the disappearance of this aircraft that Malaysians do have best friends of other races. Peter Chong was Captain Zaharie's best friend.

The third thing that bothers me is some fool from CNN called Jake Tapper who has a smug, slappable, babboon-like face who says, "Who would want to do this, to this part of the world, to this country, and who would be capable of such a thing?"

It's not what he's saying that is annoying, but how he says it.

I have a message for Jake Tapper:

Listen up, you dumb fuck. Your country, the one with crappy-banking-technology-but-superb-spying-skills-on-its-own-citizens (and ludicrously expensive healthcare) is not the only thing that is worthwhile in this world.

While you had your head buried in a hole or possibly trying to deal with the general incompetencies of your nation, other countries have emerged as economic leaders in their own right.

I don't expect you as an American to be able to comprehend that, as you probably have an IQ of 90 or 95, but it would be much appreciated if you could shut that flapping trap that sits on the front of your face and lubricates your jaws with saliva.

Fly Home To Vote!

A while back, I posted about Malaysians working abroad who will be returning home to vote.

Interestingly, the airlines appear to be cooperating with those returning around the 5th of May.

Extracts:

Airlines are hoping to cash in on the huge interest in Malaysia’s upcoming May 5 elections by offering discounts and promotions to entice Malaysians living abroad to come home to vote.

“Fly Home to Vote” kicked it off, with cheap tickets offered by discount carrier AirAsia Bhd.

There are over one million Malaysians living and working outside Malaysia, according to MyOverseasVote, a group set up to campaign for the right of Malaysians abroad to vote. Roughly 40% work in Singapore and 20% in other Asian countries, the group said.

“We’re urging people to come back to vote and be sure that their votes will go to their preferred party because we’re gravely concerned about the possibility of fraud,” Bersih co-chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan told The Wall Street Journal.

National flag carrier Malaysian Airlines System Bhd isn’t offering any special fares, but it will allow Malaysians to change their flight schedules to around the election period free of charge, a company spokesperson said.

The elections were exciting the last time round. This time it's going to be riveting.

MH5439 Joins The Ranks

There is so little good news that anything remotely of interest is most welcome.

We recently joined the exclusive ranks of major long-haul airlines.

Flight MH5439 from Toulouse, France receives a traditional water canon salute after touching down at KLIA.

MAS is set receive another 3 Airbus 380 aircraft later this year.

Dealing With Hostile Passengers On Malaysia Airlines

I don't know why they market themselves as "Living Malaysian Hospitality", because what it should really be is, "Exhibiting Malaysian Incompetence".

Ms Radhika Iyer-O'Sullivan was one such victim of poor service by MAS when she was seated next to a hostile passenger during a flight from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur.

The cabin crew were unfortunately nonplussed (and I'm being kind here) as to what course of action to take, in what I would personally regard as a reasonably simple situation.

Someone who writes in as 'Former MAS Frequent Flyer' agrees with me. In fact, his assessment of the situation was identical to mine.

MAS royally screwed up when they didn't immediately remove the hostile and aggressive passenger from his seat immediately upon the first signs of a temper tantrum.

They went on to exacerbate their mistake when they eventually moved the victim instead of the aggressor. And not to Business Class, which they claim was full on that flight.

Business Class was full?

That's something I wouldn't believe for even a second because on an international flight (say, Dubai to KL) I deduce that the aircraft would probably have been an Airbus A330 which has over 40 seats in Business Class.

Let's be conservative and assume it was the smaller variant, an Airbus A330-223 which has a seat configuration of 0 First Class, 42 Business Class and 187 Economy Class. Ref: 229 (-/42/187)

Frankly, I find it rather hard to believe that all 42 seats would have been taken, and you would too, if you only knew how much Business Class costs.

So they didn't relocate her to Business Class. Instead a flight attendant took her to "the kitchen", of all places!!

Now there are no kitchens on airplanes; what she was referring to is probably the galley.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is no place for a traumatised passenger. And neither is coke and water the solution for soothing frayed nerves.

I think this situation occured because the cabin crew were not adequately trained on what to do in situations like this. As the victim was non-confrontational, they insensitively opted to "resolve" the matter by the easiest way possible: sending her away.

I am surprised there was no sky marshall on board. Such a hostile passenger should have been handcuffed to his seat for the safety of ALL other passengers on board, not just Ms Iyer-O'Sullivan.

Evidently, MAS does not have much regard for its passenger safety. It should because it is, afterall, a national carrier and Malaysian reputation is at stake.

I checked its blog and found only a whinging response saying that the aggressive and hostile passenger was a Malaysian and describing how shocked the cabin crew were at his behaviour.

Read further and you will find even more disturbingly lame excuses.

Do you know what Malaysia Airlines offered as a service recovery? A miserable 25% discount off her return flight. At this point, I just had to send them a piece of my mind.

I am appalled to hear of such poor service by MAS. At no point in time should Ms Iyer-O'Sullivan have been removed instead of the hostile passenger. In fact, the situation should never have been allowed to escalate to such a point.

You obviously have poorly-trained staff with a severe lack of quick-thinking and problem-solving measures. I am even more disturbed to hear that the only measures being taken are a miserable apology and a 25% discount on the return flight ticket.

Do you seriously expect Ms Iyer-O'Sullivan to patronise MAS after such deplorable service? I have flown MAS a number of times for business purposes when I had no say in the booking of the ticket, but you can be assured that the next time I am booked on MAS, I will flatly refuse to travel on it.

I don't know if they will publish it as they do moderate their blog. Probably not, if they want to maintain the pleasant facade of a stream of satisfied customers.

But do you know what I really think Ms Iyer-O'Sullivan should do?

While I'm not a fan of legal action because so many lawsuits have reached the threshold of frivolity (especially in the USA), I personally believe she should sue their pants off for causing such trauma through their insensivity and incompetence.

Perhaps being relieved of a substantial amount of cash would spur them to provide better service to their customers in future.

Another Budget Airlines?

The story of AirAsia is phenomenal.

It began as the heavily-indebted subsidiary of the Malaysian government-owned conglomerate, DRB-Hicom, and was losing money big-time.

Then came along some Malaysian-Indian dude called Tony Fernandes who decided he wanted to own an airlines.

Now this guy is an accountant. He worked very briefly with Virgin Atlantic as an auditor, subsequently becoming the financial controller for Richard Branson's Virgin Records in London.

Upon his return to Malaysia, he became, at 27, the youngest-ever managing director of Warner Music.

That's even younger than I am now.

So he buys this failing airlines and decides he's going to turn it into a budget airlines - back then a completely UNHEARD-OF concept.

He started it just after the September 11, 2001, which is debatably the worst day in the history of commercial aviation when nobody wanted to fly.

Everyone figured this fellow Fernandes had flipped.

Everyone predicted that the company would fail miserably.

Yet, just one year after his takeover, AirAsia had broken even and cleared all its debts. Its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2004 was oversubscribed by 130 per cent.

This dude is WAY COOL.

Of course, the national carrier, Malaysia Airlines wants a slice of the pie.

Only recently, after drastic policy changes did MAS narrow its losses to 136.4 million ringgit (US$39 million) from 1.14 billion ringgit (US$326 million) a year earlier.

Since Air Asia has been thriving, MAS presumptously expects to achieve profit as well from its low-cost carrier called Firefly beginning next year.

Who knows, it may.

Since Firefly is based in Penang, a northern state, the domestic destinations are currently not being serviced by any other airline and so it gets to fill in the niche. Air Asia operates out of Kuala Lumpur.

However, we already have six airlines - Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Berjaya Air, Transmile and Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) and Firefly. Granted, Transmile is cargo, Berjaya does exclusive charters and FAX is based in East Malaysia.

But we have a relatively small population. In fact, Malaysia is a relatively small country.

How many people do you expect up in the air at any one time? And how can MAS compete with AirAsia's super deals? I just bought a ticket (minus airport tax) to Jakarta, Indonesia for 30sen. That's $0.09 for the Americans. :)

I have wondered why they bother charging at all for the ticket. Of course, it's probably funkier to say I paid 30sen for a ticket. Makes it sound like I had to toil to save up for it. :)

But yeah, it would be fascinating to watch the competition unfold between AirAsia and Firefly.