Rebuilding MAS for the long haul

TWO plane disasters and 537 lives lost involving crisis-fatigued Malaysia Airlines (MAS) have turned 2014 into a storm-wreck year for the carrier which was earlier on wobbly financial footing but now, simply shaken to the bone.

At just over the halfway mark, this year could also be when the ailing state-owned airline, with some 20,000 people on its payroll, is jolted into renewal. After all, we are strongest at the broken places and after a defeat, it is said.

But what was Khazanah Nasional thinking when it said it would come up with a revival plan for MAS within six to 12 months - following the loss of MH370 on March 8, which led to a reputational fallout, and amid slumping sales and hefty compensation payouts and the worst January-March quarterly loss in two years.