MAS CEO's job has just gotten tougher

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysian Airline System (MAS) chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya was hired less than three years ago to steer the carrier into profitability. His mission has gotten harder as the national carrier hunts for a lost plane carrying 239 people.

The 59-year-old power industry veteran has presided over a 63 per cent slump in the stock since joining the state-controlled airline in September 2011, battered by unviable routes and competition from low-cost carriers including AirAsia. The airline lost a total RM4.13 billion (S$1.6 billion) over its past three financial years.

Rescuers have been searching for MAS Flight MH370 since it disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing early on Saturday. It is the second mishap in six months. In October, a Twin Otter DHC6 plane operated by its unit MASwings crash-landed in Sabah on Borneo island, killing two. That was the first fatal plane accident in Malaysia since A…