Tragedy-hit Malaysia Airlines to cut workforce by 30 per cent

Troubled state-owned Malaysia Airlines is set to embark on a huge operational overhaul, having announced plans to slash its workforce by 30 per cent.

The Asian airline, which has over 20,000 workers, said it became necessary to initiate a $1.9bn recovery plan to get its operation back on its feet.

“The combination of measures announced today will enable our national airline to be revived,” managing director of Khazanah Nasional, Azman Mokhtar, said.

Majorly owned by state investment company, Khazanah Nasional, the airline has been experiencing major hiccups this year, including two “puzzling” disasters on its aircraft.

In March, its Beijing–bound MH370 flight went missing from the tower radar. The company is yet to find this aircraft.

Nearly four months after, its MH17 aircraft was reportedly shot down by rebels in Donetsk on July 17, leading to the death of about 298 people – most of whom are world’s leading AIDS experts travelling to an international conference in Melbourne.

These attacks have  sparked low patronage of the airlines services and weekly bookings continue to dwindle.

Prior to these disasters, the company was losing billions of dollars.

However, as part of its new growth strategy, the airline plans to cut the number of its long-haul route and make it a solely controlled investment by state company – Khazanah Nasional – which already owns 69 per cent of the business.

Once the new company is formed by July 2015, a new chief executive will be employed to take over the managerial affairs.

The airline will also be completely delisted from the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange by the end of 2014.

The airline remains optimistic and hopes to return to profitability by the year 2018.