Malaysia Airlines to cut 6,000 jobs in overhaul

Malaysia Airlines has announced it will cut 6,000 jobs as part of a radical restructuring plan after being hit by two disasters in 2014.

The reduction in staff numbers represents around 30% of its workforce of 20,000.

Malaysia Airlines will become completely state owned, and a new chief executive will eventually be put in place.

Investigators continue to hunt for flight MH370, the Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight which went missing in March.

The MH17 air crash in eastern Ukraine is also under investigation. The plane was shot down on July 17, with the loss of all 298 people on board.

The recovery plan will cost about 6 billion Malaysian ringgit ($1.9 billion).

Khazanah Nasional, the state investment company that owns a 69% stake in Malaysia Airlines, will take 100% ownership.

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

“Success is by no means guaranteed – while it is imperative that MAS [Malaysia Airlines] as a critical enabler in national development is revived, public accountability for the use of the funds mean that it cannot be renewed at any cost,” he added.

Long-haul routes will be slashed, and the airline aims to return to profitability by 2018.

Malaysia Airlines warned on Thursday that it had seen a sharp decline in weekly bookings following the two air disasters.

However, the company has been in trouble over the past few years, and has lost billions of ringgit in that time.

Malaysia Airlines will be completely delisted from the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange by the end of 2014.

Relevant assets, operations and liabilities of Malaysia Airlines will be transferred to a new company by July 1, 2015.

The current chief executive, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, will continue to lead Malaysia Airlines until the new company is formed next year.