The CEO of struggling carrier Malaysia Airlines has announced the company is “technically bankrupt” as he unveiled plans for a complete restructure and 6,000 job losses.
Newly-appointed Christoph Mueller confirmed the plans confirmed the plans in a news conference today.
He said the “decline of performance” started long before the two tragic events that hit the airline last year - the disappearance of flight MH370 in and the shooting down of MH17 over Ukraine.
The confirmation of previous disclosed plans means only 14,000 of Malaysia’s 20,000 employees will be offered new positions.
Mueller was making his first public appearance as chief executive since being hired by the carrier's owner, Malaysian state fund Khazanah, to lead the restructuring. He has become known as a ‘turnaround specialist’ after similar roles at Aer Lingus and Lufthansa.
Malaysia Airlines plans to rebrand in September but Mueller said immediate priority is to “stop the bleeding” in 2015. It hopes then to stabilise next year, and seek to start growing again by 2017.
Mueller announced last week that Malaysia Airlines was entering voluntary administration but operations would continue to be “very much business as usual”.
Muller told BBT’s sister publication Business Travellerthat it will continue to fly double daily on its Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur route.
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