Malaysia Airlines ‘technically bankrupt’, says Christoph Mueller

Newly appointed Malaysia Airlines boss and former Aer Lingus chief Christoph Mueller has said that the Asian carrier is “technically bankrupt”, underlining the case for a restructuring to cut a third of jobs, scrap some routes, and review its long-haul fleet.

Mueller said at a news conference: “We are technically bankrupt... The decline of performance started long before the tragic events of 2014.”

Already squeezed into years of losses by stiff regional competition, the carrier was seriously affected last year by two jet disasters.

Mueller was making his first public appearance as CEO since being hired last month by the carrier’s owner, Malaysian state fund Khazanah, to lead the restructuring.

Khazanah, previously the majority owner, took the airline private last year as part of a 6bn Malaysian ringgit (€1.4bn) plan aimed at returning it to profit within three years.

The carrier’s new legal entity is Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB), replacing the previous Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS), with Mueller promising to unveil a full corporate rebranding in future. The carrier also confirmed previously disclosed plans to cut 6,000 jobs, shrinking its workforce to 14,000, are now being implemented.

Reuters