Malaysia Airlines aims to regain their 5-star SKYTRAX rating crown by 2018 says Malaysian PM Najib Razak.
Back in 2012 when Malaysia Airlines was awarded the 5-star status in the SKYTRAX World Airline Awards for delivering “consistent and high quality of product and service”, they were also awarded the
‘World’s Best Airline Cabin Crew’
and
‘Best Airline Signature Dish’
for its Satay, a traditional Malay dish, served in the Business and First Class cabins.
Those were days where Malaysians could be proud of their country’s flag carrier. Today, MAS is at best a 3-star airline.
Just yesterday (10 July), at at Raya celebration event for the Malaysia Aviation Group held in Sepang, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in his speech that the national flag carrier has been fraught with
“horrendous decisions in the past”,
news portal Malaysiakini reported.
I’m not going down that road but that was a nightmare that was inflicted upon MAS that was done by one of my predecessors…
short of naming who that person was.
PM Najib vowed to fix the current plight and future challenges that MAS is facing. Adding that he is also confident that Malaysia Airlines will obtain a five star rating by Skytrax by 2018 as MAS is well on track with regard to their five-year recovery plan.
But I will put it right. I will make sure MAS recovers and becomes one of the leading airlines in the world.
PM Najib did not mention in detail what MAS’ five-year recovery plan was all about but he did touch on that MAS’ primary focus was to stabilise the airline’s financial. PM Najib went on to quote that he was informed by current MAS’ CEO, Peter Bellew that the airline will return to profitability by 2018. After which the next phase of their focus is to add more routes to China and improve their hard product like onboard cusine and inflight entertainment.
We don’t just look at MAS as an ordinary airline. It is about our nation, icon, pride and joy
said PM Najib.
Afterthoughts: The MAS today is an often overlooked airline because of the two unforeseen tragedy they have faced a few year ago. The faith of the people have yet to return and (re)building it takes time. As an elite member of the Oneworld alliance, MAS is a carrier that I take frequently. Their business class product – although not the best in its class – are one of the cheapest among comparable airlines. Don’t get me wrong, their hard product is pretty decent but their soft product like services, could still be brushed up.
However, given the price I often have to pay for a business class seat, I have no complains (beggars can’t be choosers) and I do wish they could once again return to their glory days soon.