More Turbulence for Malaysia Airlines

There is hope for troubled Malaysia Airlines according top the new chief executive of airline, 

who said its financial situation is more challenging than anticipated and it will shrink in size as it tries to overcome a tarnished image with the industry and the public.

The Malaysian carrier has been hit hard recently, shocked by two disasters  - the first being the missing aircraft that just seems to have vanished on 8th March with 239 people on board. Then just four months later,the horrific shooting down of another aircraft over Ukraine by Russian agents claimed the lives of 298 people.

In a memo, Mr Christoph Mueller thanked Malaysia Airlines staff for a warm welcome but also noted parts of the organisation seemed "depressed" and customers were saying service is deteriorating. "Since the new airline will be smaller in size, we simply have not enough work for all of you," Mr Mueller said and plans to reduce the work-force by around 6000 people.  Mr Mueller advised they will soon send out termination letters as well as new job offers to those who will remain in the airline. 

Malaysian Aircraft Sale

The troubled national airline of Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines, is planning to sell off some aircraft as the latest stage of its restructuring efforts. After the two recent air disasters and years of poor performance the national carrier was taken private last year by Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd under a government bailout. 

The troubled airline launched a marketing campaign last week for Boeing/s777-200ERs and Airbus A330-200 freighters, according to sources inside the airline.  Malaysia Airlines reiterated that it was reviewing its fleet as part of its restructuring programme. “Exploring fleet options to enhance viability of long-haul sectors is one area being looked into,” it said in a tweet, adding that its new business plan had not yet been finalised. 

Aviation commentators speculate that the airline is also about to lease out its Airbus A380's and withdraw a number of routes. 

MH370 - Black box battery out of date - not a major issue?

A year on and we are still no nearer finding out exactly where and what happened to Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

 

However at the anniversary the media focused on one detail of the interim report, the fact that the black box battery was out of date.   The embittered airline claimed on Monday that an expired battery in the underwater locator beacon of the flight data recorder, otherwise known as the 'black box' on the missing aircraft wouldn't have made any difference in the search.

 

Lawyers acting for some of the families of passengers announced that the fact the battery had not been replaced could be key in any legal action against Malaysian. 

 

The Boeing 777-200er vanished not long after it began its flight from Kuala Lumpur heading to Beijing on 8th March last year. Its disappearance has become one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all tine, at least so far.

 

The airline released a special interim report into the disappearance on Sunday, advised the beacon battery for the flight data recorder had expired in December 2012 and had not replaced. From a statement the airline released on Monday that the solid state cockpit voice recorder was fitted with a similar battery that was still within its normal life parameters.  "The SSCVR battery would have been transmitting for 30 days upon activation when immersed in water," they said. 

 

 

Malaysian Airlines Wesite Hacked.

Malaysian Airlines website was hacked on Monday, visitors to  www.malaysiaairlines.com were greeted with a photograph of a lizard in a top hat, monocle and tuxedo, surrounded by the messages '404 - Plane Not Found' and 'Hacked by Lizard Squad - Official Cyber Caliphate'. A rap song could be heard.

A group calling itself "Official Cyber Caliphate" claimed it hacked the official website of national carrier Malaysia Airlines on Monday.  However, in a statement, Malaysian Airlines said the website was not hacked, but that users were redirected to a hacker website.  "Malaysia Airlines assures customers and clients that its website was not hacked and this temporary glitch does not affect their bookings and that user data remains secured," it said.

According to some local media reports the hacked site carried the words "ISIS will prevail" but this is unconfirmed and no sight of the slogan could be seen.

New Boss for Malaysian Airlines.

Troubled Malaysia Airlines have chosen Aer Lingus boss Christoph Mueller to be its chief executive-designate.

The Malaysian airline, which has seen its value and reputation savagely  hit by two disasters during 2014 announced a raft of senior leadership appointments during a restructuring to stave off collapse. Last month, MAS posted its worst quarterly loss since late 2011, as passenger numbers and average fare yields fell sharply.

Unusually, Mr Mueller is going to become the first ever non Malaysian native to take the head of the country's flagship carrier.  Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund and MAS's parent company, said discussions were ongoing for Mr Mueller to take up the post before 1 May 2015, but no earlier than 1 March 2015. Mr Mueller's Aer Lingus notice period ends on 1 May.

"The appointments announced today are part of efforts by the government and Khazanah to lay strong foundations for the future success of our national carrier," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said, Najib also chairs Khazanah's board of directors.

In August, MAS said it was to cut 6,000 staff as part of a recovery plan, with the airline becoming completely state-owned.

 

MH370 Wreckage.......

Wreckage from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is not going to start washing up on the coast of Australia according to officials, the wreckage from the missing plane is most likely to wash up on the coast of Indonesia! 

Authorities leading the search confirmed they are still receiving regular reports from members of the public in Australia about potential wreckage, over seven months since the the Boeing 777 went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Each and every one of the reports are “reviewed carefully”, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) advised, however it is much more likely that any wreckage would have drifted the other way.

Malaysian Government to Nationalise Troubled Malaysia Airlines

The Malaysian government announced this week that it was going to take over or nationalise the troubled Malaysia Airlines. The airline was ailing long before the loss of two aircraft this year. It had been struggling with increasing losses, vast debts, a flawed business and increasing competition on its key routes. 

On Friday, came an announcement that many in the airline industry had been expecting for quite some time, that the Malaysian government, would take full control of the company through a stock buyback and restructure its operations in an attempt to restore confidence in the troubled business. 

Malaysian Airlines MH17 - 777 Shot Down

BREAKING NEWS

The aviation industry is in shock tonight after the news breaks of a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 crashing in Eastern Ukraine. The flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was carrying 296 passengers and crew and is believed to have been shot down by a ground to air missile – however this has yet to be confirmed.

Official information is extremely limited and most of the information available coming from unconfirmed sources and social media.  Flight MH17 was approximately 50 kilometres from entering Russian airspace when it came down with what appears to be the loss of all souls on-board.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, said the aircraft would have been shot down, "We do not exclude that the plane was shot down and confirm that the Ukraine armed forces did not fire at any targets in the sky," he said in a statement. Later he said this was not an accident but “An act of terrorism.”

Dozens and dozens of bodies were scattered around the smouldering wreckage of the plane, close to  the village of Grabovo, some  25 miles from the Russian border, according to reporters at the scene. Grabovo is in an area controlled by the Russian separatists who have been known to shoot down Ukrainian military aircraft. Unconfirmed reports advise that moments after the incident a tweet from a twitter account previously used to publicize Russian Separatists shooting down Ukrainian military aircraft, claimed it had shot down another military transporter.

It's believed that there were 8 Britons on the downed aircraft, however this has yet to be confirmed as the passenger manifest has not been publically released at this time. Other unconfirmed reports state as many as 20 could you US citizens with the majority of the rest mixed between Malaysian and Dutch.

Emergency workers at the scene of the incident commented that at least 100 bodies had been found so far, with wreckage scattered across a wide area,  "I was working in the field on my tractor when I heard the sound of a plane and then a bang and shots. Then I saw the plane hit the ground and break in two. There was thick black smoke," a witness, named only as Vladimir, told a Reuters reporter close the area.

On a tweet and in a statement, Malaysia Airlines confirmed that Ukraine's air traffic control lost contact with flight MH17 at 2.15pm GMT, approximately 30 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border. Flight MH17 codeshare flight with Dutch carrier KLM was operated on a Malaysian Boeing 777 and departed Amsterdam at 12.15pm [local] and was estimated to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.10am the next day. The flight was carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew onboard."

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister commented on social media that the plane had crashed in Ukrainian territory after being hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher.  News agency Associated Press advised one of its journalists had seen a similar launcher near the town of Snizhne earlier on Thursday.

So far the leaders of the self-declared Donetsk people's republic denied any involvement and according to a Russian news agency Russian Separatists may also have retrieved and are holding the black boxes of the aircraft. Emergency workers have been reported as saying that armed separatists are hampering and interfering with any rescue attempts.

"This is the third tragic incident in recent days after Ukrainian military An-26 and Su-25 jets were shot down from Russian territory. We don't rule out that this plane was also shot down, and we stress that the Ukrainian military didn't take any actions to destroy targets in the air," said Ukrainian President.

Speaking in Delaware USA, President Barack Obama said his administration was seeking "to determine whether there were American citizens onboard.  That is our priority. And I've directed my national security team to stay in close contact with the Ukrainian government. The United States will offer any assistance we can to help determine what happened and why. As a country our thoughts and prayers are with all the families of the passengers, wherever they call home."

Earlier, Obama and Russian leader Putin spoke on the phone regarding new US sanctions imposed on Moscow over its alleged failure to halt the flow of weapons and fighters to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. Diplomatic relations between the two nations are ‘tense’ at the moment and if it process that MH17 was shot down by Russian made and supplied missiles relations will be pushed to breaking point.

Several airlines, including British Airways, Virgin, Aeroflot, Turkish Airlines and Russia's Transaereo airlines have all announced they would avoid Ukrainian airspace with immediate effect. German airline Lufthansa confirmed it would steer clear of airspace over eastern Ukraine.

The Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, said via Twitter: "I am shocked by reports that an MH plane crashed. We are launching an immediate investigation."  The country's defence minister tweeted that he was "monitoring closely" claims that MH17 had crashed, saying: "No comfirmation [sic] it was shot down! Our military have been instructed 2 get on it!"

J Shaw

Financial Trouble for Malaysian Airlines

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - As scores of small-time investors gathered in the utilitarian surrounds of Malaysia Airlines training centre on June 25 for the company’s annual shareholders meeting, the mood in the room was one of anger and frustration.

Investor after investor questioned the directors on why, after so many years of restructuring, the airline still could not create a sustained profit.

"I listen patiently year after year and the same things are said," said retired researcher Rahim Bidin to enthusiastic applause. "And every year nothing happens. I'm very disappointed with the performance. If you cannot solve the problems then let someone else (try)."

MH370 Power Outage Tampering?

Authorities investigating the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have found evidence of a mysterious power outage.

Data reveals a “log-on” request was made to a satellite just an hour-and-a-half into the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The log-on request (known in the aviation business as a “handshake”) was described as “not common” in the report released by The Australian Transport Safety Bureau last week.

It adds a “handshake” can occur for only a few reasons: “These include a power interruption to the aircraft satellite data (SDU) unit, a software failure, loss of critical systems providing input to the SDU or a loss of the link due to aircraft altitude.

“An analysis was performed which determined that the characteristics and timing of the logon requests were best matched as resulting from power interruption to the SDU.”

Aviation expert Peter Marosszeky, from the University of New South Wales, told the Sydney Morning Herald the power outage could be linked to an attempt by hijackers to tamper with cockpit equipment in a bid to avoid radar detection.

He said: “If there was a crew wanting to do something that was rather sinister or there were hijackers on board, they would remove power by opening up the bus-tie breakers and opening up the battery control switch.

The Hunt For MH370 Goes On

The underwater probe being used to look for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was back in the water after its first attempt ended prematurely, said the company that owns the vehicle, Phoenix International. The Bluefin-21 autonomous underwater vehicle was about four hours into its second dive mission at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday (2 a.m. Wednesday in Perth, Australia), a source close to the operation told CNN's Brian Todd. On Monday, crews sent the probe toward the ocean floor on what was expected to be a 20-hour deployment, only to have it return in less than eight hours after encountering waters beyond its 4,500-meter (14,764-foot) maximum depth. 

The probe found no debris during its shortened scanning session. The second mission is expected to end Wednesday around 10 a.m. ET (10 p.m. in Perth), the source said. The vehicle was deployed in nearly the same area and is operating at about the same depth as the earlier mission, the source said. The earlier aborted mission doesn't mean anything is wrong with the probe, which is designed to swim about 30 meters (100 feet) above the ocean floor and use sound waves to draw a three-dimensional map of what lies below.

A380's of Thai and Malaysian

The first Thai Airways International (THAI) A380 rolled out of the Airbus paint shop during June 2012, marking completion of its painting and cabin installation work.  Photo by Airbus.

Yesterday, Airbus showed off photos of Thai Airways International’s (THAI) first A380 that is in full livery.

The airline’s first double-decker has also completed interior installation and will now go through its final phase of ground and flight tests in Hamburg, before the aircraft will be believered to THAI sometime during the third quarter of 2012.

THAI will become the ninth operator of the A380 and the airline has firm orders for six A380s.

TAKE A PHOTO INTERIOR TOUR OF THAI’S A380 via Australian Business Traveler

The first A380 for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) was unveiled today bearing its special celebration livery, ahead of entry-into-service next week on the Kuala Lumpur-London route. Image from Airbus.

Airbus also showed off Malaysia Airlines (MAS) first A380, sporting a special “celebration livery.” The A380′s new paint scheme was added post-delivery and highlights the A380 as the flagship for the airline. The plane will start operations on the MAS Kuala Lumpur-London route next week and is configured in three classes with a total of 494 seats.

Malaysia Airlines

Malaysia Airlines is the government owned flag carrier airline of Malaysia, it’s main hub is Kuala Lumpur, with a secondary hub at Kota Kinabalu.
It’s recently been financially restructured and looks in good shape to face the future. It’s has a reputation of providing great service at fares more reasonable than many other airlines. It often wins awards for service, both in the air and one the ground.
Our rating  4.5 stars

• Reservations
• UK +44 (0) 871 4239 090
• USA +1 800 552 9264
• Within Malaysia: 1 300 88 3000
  Outside Malaysia: +6 03 7843 3000

Safety record is good – details below of accidents and incidents that have effected the airline,  it’s on-time record is reasonably good,  in the first three months of 2011, 78 per cent of flights left on time.


The story of Malaysia Airlines starts in the golden age of travel. A joint initiative of the Ocean Steamship Company of Liverpool, the Straits Steamship of Singapore and Imperial Airways led to a proposal to the Colonial Straits Settlement government to run an air service between Penang and Singapore. The result was the incorporation of Malayan Airways Limited (MAL) on 12 October 1937.


On 2 April 1947, MAL took to the skies with its first commercial flight as the national airline. Fuelled by a young and dynamic team of visionaries, the domestic carrier turned into an international airline in less than a decade.


With the formation of Malaysia in 1963, the airline changed its name to Malaysian Airlines Limited. Soon after, Borneo Airways was incorporated into MAL. Within 20 years, MAL grew from a single aircraft operator into a company with 2,400 employees and a fleet operator using the then latest Comet IV jet aircraft, six F27s, eight DCs and two Pioneers.


In 1965, with the separation of Singapore from Malaysia, MAL became a bi-national airline and was renamed Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA). A new logo was introduced and the airline grew exponentially with new services to Perth, Taipei, Rome and London. However, in 1973, the partners went separate ways. Malaysia introduced Malaysian Airline Limited, which was subsequently renamed Malaysian Airline System or in short, Malaysia Airlines. Today, Malaysia Airlines flies around 50,000 passengers daily to some 100 destinations worldwide.


The airline holds a lengthy record of service and best practices excellence, having received more than 100 awards in the last 10 years – the more notable ones are listed below.
Awarded by Skytrax UK

• World's Best Cabin Crew (2001–2004, 2007, 2009)
  
• 5-star Airline (2005–2007, 2009)
  
• Economy Class Onboard Excellence (2006)
  
• World’s Best Economy Class Award (2010)
  
• Staff Service Excellence for Asia Award (2010)

Awarded by World Travel Awards

• World’s Leading Airline to Asia (2010)
  
• Asia’s Leading Airline (2010)
  
• Asia’s Leading Business Class Airline (2010)

Malaysia Airlines

Key on-board service facts

 

Keeping you entertained in the skies

The Select In-flight Entertainment system offers a world of high quality, highly engaging entertainment onboard. From the latest blockbusters to popular TV shows, to multi-player games and critically acclaimed album releases, enjoy your MH Experience with a specially curated selection designed to delight your senses.
Entertainment systems available onboard

• Audio Video on Demand (AVOD): A330-300, B747-400, B777-200, B737-800
  
• In-seat Video: A330-200
  
• Overhead screens: A330-300, B737-800
  
• Portable Media Player: A330-300 Business Class

An extra inch goes a long way

With a seat pitch of 86.3 cm (34"), our Economy Class seats are one of the roomiest around. Stretch out or snuggle in with a pillow and blanket for comfort on long-haul flights.


Shop with Temptations, our duty-free in-flight shopping service. Choose from fine liquors to quality branded goods. Our cabin crew are ready to assist you with local duty-free allowances.
Fancy a particular spot? If you purchased a basic Economy Class ticket, you may now select preferred seats for a small fee – perfect for keeping good company together.
Business Class
From checking in via the telephone to receiving personalised service at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), take advantage of our exclusive check-in privileges for Business Class.
Freshen up with a quick shower, grab a hot drink, squeeze in some work thanks to free Wi-Fi, or sit back and relax before your next flight at our exclusive Golden Lounges worldwide.
Our Business Class seats are designed with ample leg-room and the ability to lie flat or recline freely so you can rest and enjoy unparalleled privacy throughout the journey.
Take your pick from our wide selection of palate-pleasing gourmet cuisine, produced from farm-fresh ingredients and created to provide a lofty dining experience.
Communicate with loved ones or workmates via calls or text messages using your seat entertainment controller that also works as an air-to-ground phone. You can even send and receive emails mid-flight.



Accidents, Incidents and crashes.
Listed here are incidents since relaunch of operations of Alitalia on 13 January 2009.
There have been two accidents involving passenger fatalities on Malaysia Airlines, with a total of 134 fatalities:
4 December 1977 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 653, a Boeing 737-200 (9M-MBD) was hijacked and crashed in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, killing all 100 people aboard.
15 September 1995 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 2133, a Fokker 50 (9M-MGH) crashed during approach in Tawau, Sabah due to pilot error. 34 people were killed.
Other, non-fatal incidents
18 December 1983 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 684, an Airbus A300B4 (OY-KAA) leased from Scandinavian Airlines crashed 2 km short of the runway in Subang on a flight from Singapore. There were no fatalities, but the aircraft was written-off.

15 March 2000 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 85, an Airbus A330-300 (9M-MKB) was damaged by a chemical called oxalyl chloride, which leaked from canisters when unloading, causing damage to the fuselage when arrived at KLIA from Beijing. The 5-year-old Airbus was sufficiently damaged to be written-off.
30 November 2003 - A cable in a Boeing 777-200ER that allows pilots to turn the plane on the ground had snapped before the Bombay-bound jet was to take off. The incident came just months (2004) after several wires on an Airbus A330-300 bound for Australia were found to have been cut shortly before take-off. Three of the airline's staff were arrested and later released over what a spokesman described as an act of vandalism, not sabotage. The government and police regarded both incidents as sabotage.
1 August 2005 - A Boeing 777-200ER as Malaysia Airlines flight 124 departed Perth for Kuala Lumpur. Climbing through 38,000 feet a faulty accelerometer caused the aircraft's Air Data Inertial Reference Unit (ADIRU) to command changes of altitude. The flight crew overrode the ADIRU and manually returned to land the aircraft at Perth. Subsequent NTSB investigation led the US FAA to issue emergency airworthiness directive 2005-18-51 on the fly-by-wire software.
2 October 2009 - Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-400 (9M-MMR) was substantially damaged when the port main undercarriage collapsed while the aircraft was parked at the gate at Kuching Airport.