Company in focus: Malaysia Airlines' chief bails out with bittersweet memo

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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505084622/mailto:/?subject=Company%20in%20focus%3A%20Malaysia%20Airlines%27%20chief%20bails%20out%20with%20bittersweet%20memo%20&body=Here%20is%20something%20from%20Nikkei%20Asian%20Review%20that%20might%20interest%20you%3A%0D%0ACompany%20in%20focus%3A%20Malaysia%20Airlines%27%20chief%20bails%20out%20with%20bittersweet%20memo%20%0D%0Ahttp://s.nikkei.com/1UaeMSd">Mail</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="article-box"> <div class="detail"> <div class="feature-article"> <div class="date-area">April 24, 2016 12:00 pm JST</div> <div class="sub-title">Company in focus</div> <h1 class="title">Malaysia Airlines' chief bails out with bittersweet memo </h1> <p>CK TAN, Nikkei staff writer</p> </div> <img src="/web/20160505084622im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201604/0423t/20160424_christoph_mueller_malaysia_airlines/4401877-1-eng-GB/20160424_Christoph_mueller_malaysia_airlines_article_main_image.jpg" width="580" alt=""/> <p class="img-caption"> Christoph Mueller, the latest outgoing chief executive at Malaysia Airlines, has not disclosed the "personal reasons" for his departure by September. <span class="img-credit"> © AP </span> </p> </div> </div> <div class="article-box detail"> <div class="wysiwyg_area"> <div class="articleBodyText"> <p>KUALA LUMPUR -- The drama continues at Malaysia Airlines where Christoph Mueller, the German chief executive headhunted to turn it around, has dropped the bombshell that he is stepping away less than half way through his three-year contract for unexplained "personal reasons".</p><p>     As the profoundly troubled Malaysian national flag-carrier attempts to get back on financial course, and recover from the loss of two Boeing 777s with 537 lives in aviation disasters in 2014, Mueller's departure focuses the spotlight firmly once more on the airline's sole shareholder: state investment fund Khazanah Nasional.</p><div class="page_limit free"></div><div class="page_limit"></div><p>     Mueller, 54, broke the news of his departure in an internal memo on April 19. The memo obtained by Nikkei Asian Review reads the airline "is making very good progress", but offered only that he is leaving for "personal reasons which are beyond my control".</p><p>     "I hope to be able to remain as a non-executive member of the board of directors for some time, subject to approvals, to ensure we stay focused and we stay on course." Mueller said.</p><p>     Mueller's decision comes in the midst of the complete rehabilitation program he has been orchestrating. The German airline turnaround specialist put Irish airline Aer Lingus back in business, and is the first foreigner to run Malaysia Airlines in decades. He was expected to deliver on a 12-point recovery plan that has already included trimming 30% from the workforce of almost 20,000.</p><div class="object-right"> <div class="object-right fb"> <div class="object-right"> <div class="js_enlarge"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="mwTrg" alt="zoom_113424"> <div class="image-side"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505084622im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/magazine/20160421/mh-graphics/4401376-5-eng-GB/MH-GRAPHICS_middle_320.png" alt="" class=""><p class="date-area img-caption"></p> </div> </a> </div> <div class="modal-zoom" id="zoom_113424"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="js_close fb">Close</a> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505084622im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/magazine/20160421/mh-graphics/4401376-5-eng-GB/MH-GRAPHICS_article_main_image.png" alt="" class=""></div> </div> </div> </div><p>     Since its renationalization at the end of 2014, Malaysia Airlines has not had to fully disclose performance information, but operational data gathered by third parties suggests it has been moving in the right direction. "Our on-time performance is increasing and very stable and our customer service index is recovering with more significant improvements in the pipeline," Muller said in his memo.</p><p>     According to UK-based travel information company OAG, on-time departures improved to 81.4% in March from 79.4% in September. This was better than <a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05TKC1-E" target="_self" alt="05TKC1-E" class="mwMoTrg">AirAsia</a>, the largest low cost carrier in the region, at 80%, but still well short of <a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HWD1-E" target="_self" alt="05HWD1-E" class="mwMoTrg">Singapore Airlines</a>' 92%.</p><p>     Under Mueller, the airline has trimmed fleet capacity, the number of airplanes in its fleet by 15%, and has 82 aircraft remaining from 97. The most significant departures are all eight of its remaining Boeing 777s, the aircraft type involved in the two aviation disasters in 2014.</p><p>     "The consolidation will drive down complexity in maintenance, engineering, and flight operations", Mueller said in early March. The fleet reduction has been possible because the long-haul network has been shrunk by over 30%. Unprofitable routes to Europe have been jettisoned with the exception of London. To fill the gap, Malaysia Airlines implemented a code-sharing agreement earlier this year with Emirates, which connects to Africa, Europe, and the Americas through its home base in Dubai.</p><p>     Mueller said in his internal memo that the airline had "already seen a profit in February," suggesting the airline is going forward with the 6-billion-ringgit ($1.5-billion) restructuring plan unveiled in August 2014.</p><div class="page_break auto free"></div><div class="page_break auto"></div><p>     "We are also ahead of budget which gives a strong indication that our turnaround initiatives are pulling through faster than expected," said Mueller. "I feel particularly sad to leave the company when we see the first payback of the hard work of the team."</p><p>     Although it had been privatized, the Malaysian government had to step back in as the major shareholder in 2001. Five chief executives, including a former newspaper editor, then attempted unsuccessfully to put the airline on a profitable trajectory.</p><p>     In the aftermath of 1997's Asian financial crisis, the government had already acquired 29.1% from Naluri, the now defunct aviation holding company controlled by Tajudin Ramli, who was considered one of Malaysia's great corporate builders under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The bailout was unpopular because more than twice market price was paid, and certain businessmen appeared to be favored.</p><p>     Unions were always among the biggest obstacles the airline's chief executives faced. Their leaders had good relations historically with the ruling party, the United Malays National Organization, and in the run-up to 2013's general election even threatened to vote with the opposition to protect jobs.</p><p>     Even before 2014's aviation disasters, Malaysia Airlines faced a grave situation with accumulated net losses of 4.12 billion ringgit between 2011 and 2013. An attempt in 2012 to merge the airline with AirAsia through a share swap fell through.</p><p>     Mueller came aboard in January 2015. Given entrenched unions and intensifying competition, he was supposed to be the dispassionate outsider capable of effecting a turnaround. Khazanah touted him as the "best candidate" after a global search. In his five years at Aer Lingus, Mueller fought off takeover bids from Irish budget carrier Ryanair and took the unions in hand. In 2014, the Irish airline reported a 17.8% increase in operating profit, before net exceptional items.</p><p>     In Malaysia, Mueller was handed a "technically bankrupt" airline seriously burdened by national pride -- a common enough problem among legacy carriers. "There is [a] lack of entrepreneur spirit in certain functions," Mueller told reporters after 30 days in the job.</p><p>     "Mueller is a very straightforward man who doesn't shy away from getting to the heart of difficult problems," aviation analyst John Strickland, a U.K.-based industry veteran, told the Nikkei Asian Review.</p><p>     Harsh measures necessary for the ailing company may not have all gone down well with existing stakeholders, including Khazanah, which fills over half the main board of 13 from its own ranks and the civil service.</p><p>     Khazanah also has controlling interests in companies such as <a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/061ZWS-E" target="_self" alt="061ZWS-E" class="mwMoTrg">Axiata Group Holdings</a>, <a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HWKP-E" target="_self" alt="05HWKP-E" class="mwMoTrg">CIMB Group Holding</a>, and <a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/076SPC-E" target="_self" alt="076SPC-E" class="mwMoTrg">IHH Healthcare</a>. It has said that the 6-billion-ringgit capital injection into Malaysia Airlines will only be disbursed "subject to strict conditionality and on a staggered basis". Khazanah's conditions have not been revealed.</p><p>     Mueller once told Strickland that turning around an airline with so many difficulties requires a "certain degree of autocracy."</p><p>     Malaysia Airlines won awards for customer service and had a good safety record prior to 2014. Some industry watchers believe the carrier's persistent commercial failure was down to mismanagement rather than the bloated workforce and aviation disasters.</p><div class=""> <div class="object- fb"> <div class="object-"> <div class="js_enlarge"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="mwTrg" alt="zoom_113334"> <div class="image-side"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505084622im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201604/0422t/20160428timeline/4397730-2-eng-GB/20160428Timeline_large_580.png" alt="" class=""><p class="date-area img-caption"></p> </div> </a> </div> <div class="modal-zoom" id="zoom_113334"> <a href="javascript:%20void(0);" class="js_close fb">Close</a> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505084622im_/http://asia.nikkei.com/var/site_cache/storage/images/node_43/node_51/2016/201604/0422t/20160428timeline/4397730-2-eng-GB/20160428Timeline_article_main_image.png" alt="" class=""></div> </div> </div> </div><p>     "The fall of the airline was largely due to the inability of successive senior executives over the past decade to comprehend trends in a constantly evolving and complex aviation industry," Shukor Yusof, an analyst who has tracked the airline for over 20 years, told the Nikkei Asian Review.</p><p>     Yusof questions the decision to acquire six Airbus 380s in 2008 with "absolutely no economic reason" to do so. Four are flying the Kuala Lumpur-London route but will be phased out by the end of this year.</p><p>     "I was not entirely surprised by the news," said Yusof. "There were unconfirmed talks that Mueller was unhappy with the shareholders."</p><p><b>     </b>Malaysia Airlines recently stopped serving alcohol on board flights of less than three hours. The company's Facebook page has been bombarded by queries on the issue, which the carrier said was "in response to the preference of the majority of the customers".</p><p>     The issues now are who will succeed Mueller and how much of his restructuring plan will survive. One of Mueller's tasks was to groom a local successor, but that is a first casualty of his departure. The carrier has appointed Chief Operating Officer Peter Bellew as executive director to oversee the transition to the next chief executive.</p><p>     "To find a replacement with similar experience and capabilities will be a challenge particularly if his successor has to manage the challenge of political interference," said Strickland.</p><p>     "It is a huge blow for the credibility of Khazanah that someone of the stature of Mueller decided to leave the company," said Yusof. "Finding a successor is not hard if they offer the right amount of compensation -- but finding someone with credibility is not easy."</p><p>     "To turn Malaysia Airlines around is almost impossible as long as Khazanah is in control of the company because they are in a big way responsible for the airline's decline," said Yusof.</p><p>     "The show must go on!" said Mueller, signing off his memo.</p><p>     <i>Mayuko Tani, Nikkei staff writer in Singapore contributed to this story.</i></p> </div> </div> <div id="modal-screen_zoom"></div> </div> <div id="05TKC1-E" class="cmp-smy-balloon"> <div class="cmp-smy-balloon-inr"> <span class="sub-title-a300">Asia300</span> <h3 class="mwmo-title"><a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05TKC1-E">AirAsia Bhd.</a></h3> <p class="a300ctry">Malaysia</p> <table> <tr> <th>Market(Ticker):</th> <td>KLS(5099)</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Sector:<br>Industry:</th> <td>Transportation<br>Airlines</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Market cap(USD):</th> <td>1,359.92M</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Shares:</th> <td>2,782.97M</td> </tr> </table> <div class="more"> <a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05TKC1-E">about AirAsia Bhd.</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="05HWD1-E" class="cmp-smy-balloon"> <div class="cmp-smy-balloon-inr"> <span class="sub-title-a300">Asia300</span> <h3 class="mwmo-title"><a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HWD1-E">Singapore Airlines Ltd.</a></h3> <p class="a300ctry">Singapore</p> <table> <tr> <th>Market(Ticker):</th> <td>SES(C6L)</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Sector:<br>Industry:</th> <td>Transportation<br>Airlines</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Market cap(USD):</th> <td>9,945.39M</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Shares:</th> <td>1,199.85M</td> </tr> </table> <div class="more"> <a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HWD1-E">about Singapore Airlines Ltd.</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="061ZWS-E" class="cmp-smy-balloon"> <div class="cmp-smy-balloon-inr"> <span class="sub-title-a300">Asia300</span> <h3 class="mwmo-title"><a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/061ZWS-E">Axiata Group Bhd.</a></h3> <p class="a300ctry">Malaysia</p> <table> <tr> <th>Market(Ticker):</th> <td>KLS(6888)</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Sector:<br>Industry:</th> <td>Communications<br>Wireless Telecommunications</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Market cap(USD):</th> <td>12,315.10M</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Shares:</th> <td>8,822.88M</td> </tr> </table> <div class="more"> <a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/061ZWS-E">about Axiata Group Bhd.</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="05HWKP-E" class="cmp-smy-balloon"> <div class="cmp-smy-balloon-inr"> <span class="sub-title-a300">Asia300</span> <h3 class="mwmo-title"><a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HWKP-E">CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.</a></h3> <p class="a300ctry">Malaysia</p> <table> <tr> <th>Market(Ticker):</th> <td>KLS(1023)</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Sector:<br>Industry:</th> <td>Finance<br>Regional Banks</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Market cap(USD):</th> <td>10,237.07M</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Shares:</th> <td>8,728.86M</td> </tr> </table> <div class="more"> <a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/05HWKP-E">about CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="076SPC-E" class="cmp-smy-balloon"> <div class="cmp-smy-balloon-inr"> <span class="sub-title-a300">Asia300</span> <h3 class="mwmo-title"><a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/076SPC-E">IHH Healthcare Bhd.</a></h3> <p class="a300ctry">Malaysia</p> <table> <tr> <th>Market(Ticker):</th> <td>KLS(5225)</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Sector:<br>Industry:</th> <td>Health Services<br>Hospital/Nursing Management</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Market cap(USD):</th> <td>13,519.81M</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Shares:</th> <td>8,224.21M</td> </tr> </table> <div class="more"> <a href="/web/20160505084622/http://asia.nikkei.com/Company/076SPC-E">about IHH Healthcare Bhd.</a> </div> </div> </div>  <div 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Company in focus: Malaysia Airlines' chief bails out with bittersweet memo - Nikkei Asian Review