Life-changing crisis for MAS CEO

UP until March 8, Malaysia Airlines boss Ahmad Jauhari Yahya was immersed in a painful task inherited from his predecessors - to stem the airline's staggering losses and lead it back to profitability.

Now, the 59-year-old lean-built triathlete - possibly one of the fittest chief executives in Malaysia - is grappling with a different kind of deficit; far deeper and far more tragic than the red figures that the airline has been sinking into for three straight years. The drumbeat of stress and anxiety since Flight MH370, with 239 people on board, vanished three weeks ago, visibly blankets Mr Ahmad Jauhari's countenance.

"He is truly shaken. He's tough but this must be heart wrenching and gut busting," says a senior executive of a government-linked company (GLC) who knows the man whom many in the corporate circuit call "AJ".

The mishap beckons another cash infusion by the Malaysian government and derails Mr Ahmad Jauhari's wishful plan to navigate the state-controlled carrier to profitability this year after it bled RM1.17 billion (S$452.5 million) in 2013.

His corporate stamina, built chiefly in the country's power sector, fortified by the gruelling Ironman swim, run and ride workouts, could not have prepared him for the current tumult that he has to endure.

The "no frills", introverted, veteran executive and the Malaysian government now stand in the frontline of a shocking calamity, slammed for poor crisis management.

Analysts reckon that the airline could suffer a fallout - both from reputational damage and financial consequences of potential class actions and compensation payouts. Such claims may be covered by insurance, but the airline's already tenuous financials will take a further hit. It calls for a recalibration of the carrier's turnaround plan by Mr Ahmad Jauhari, whose hobbies include flying.But just who is this "AJ", who has so abruptly been thrown in the global public glare?

Just before his maiden Ironman sojourn in 2003, the man who spent his student years at Malaysia's elite Royal Military College and later graduated from UK's Nottingham University, barely knew how to swim. So, he trained vigorously.

"Once he latched on to an idea, he didn't let anything get in the way. That's how disciplined, driven and intense he can be," says an executive chum.

Starting his career at Esso Malaysia, Mr Ahmad Jauhari went on to cut his teeth in the newspaper business at the The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd, a media group linked to Malaysia's ruling Malay party Umno.

In 1994, he joined Malakoff - Malaysia's largest independent power producer and second largest power producer after national utility Tenaga Nasional. At its peak, in mid 2000, half of Malaysian-listed Malakoff shares was held by foreigners.

Three years after Malakoff was taken over by MMC Corp - the flagship of well-connected Malaysian tycoon Syed Mokhtar Albukhary - and delisted, Mr Ahmad Jauhari left, capping a 16-year career there.

"He couldn't work under the new environment in Malakoff. He is a capable manager who doesn't need a shareholder who meddles," said an observer.

Soon, Mr Ahmad Jauhari was back in the job market.

And in a country with plenty of government-linked companies which favour hiring Malays for the top job, it didn't take long for head hunters to mark him.

He didn't take the leap when approached by state-owned fund Khazanah Nasional to helm national utility Tenaga Nasional. But in 2011, he surprised many when he accepted the seemingly tough top job at Malaysia Airlines, South-east Asia's fourth largest airline by market value. Truth be told, he didn't jump at that chance.

Since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the airline - weighed down by hefty debts, soaring fuel bills, a weak handle on yields and even weaker overall management - has found itself short of cash at least three times.

Two government bailouts, countless restructurings and revamps - some bolder than the other - proved inadequate. Also, more than any other GLC, Malaysia Airlines seemed notoriously political - which often got in the way of commercial interests.

But the numbers-driven executive was seen as the man who could help lift the airline's flagging fortunes. It took three meetings with none other than Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is also Finance Minister, before Mr Ahmad Jauhari relented.

"No matter what you say, if the prime minister asks you to do a job, there's nothing much you can do about it," says an insider.

Mr Ahmad Jauhari would soon find himself smack in the middle of a contentious, yet short-lived, share swap with the carrier's arch rival AirAsia.

At one point in 2012, it is believed that he had wanted out but was cajoled to stay as his departure would have been disruptive for the struggling airline, which has switched bosses three times in six years.

Now, the woes facing the airline and its chief steward has built up to a crescendo.

"This is a situation that is beyond ordinary. Even for someone like AJ, it would cut deep to his very core," says one of his industry friends.

"My heart breaks to think of the unimaginable pain suffered by all the families. There are no words which can ease that pain," said Mr Ahmad Jauhari, in his customary measured tone, a day after Prime Minister Najib revealed that none of the passengers on the lost jetliner would have survived.

More than empathy, some 1,000 aggrieved family members are looking for answers. They quite rightly want to know from him why the jet veered off course, if his pilots are culpable or was it a mechanical failure. He forlornly admits that he simply doesn't know.

Will he quit the job? "That's a personal decision. I'll decide later. We have things to do now," he replied to media queries. Some market wags say that the hunt for a new airline boss had begun before this tragedy. If they are to be believed, Mr Ahmad Jauhari, whose term ends in six months, will have little control over whether he stays or leaves - not unlike the choice before him three years ago.