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MAS CEO ‘regrets’ necessary staff layoff

KUALA LUMPUR ― Malaysia Airlines (MAS) chief executive officer Christoph Mueller, who now holds the fate of the airline’s 20,000-strong staff in his hands, said he feels remorseful that not all from the flag carrier would be keeping their jobs come Monday (June 1).

MAS CEO Christoph Mueller says Monday will be the deadline day for the company to decide if 20,000 of its employees would still have jobs. Photo:The Malay Mail Online

MAS CEO Christoph Mueller says Monday will be the deadline day for the company to decide if 20,000 of its employees would still have jobs. Photo:The Malay Mail Online

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KUALA LUMPUR ― Malaysia Airlines (MAS) chief executive officer Christoph Mueller, who now holds the fate of the airline’s 20,000-strong staff in his hands, said he feels remorseful that not all from the flag carrier would be keeping their jobs come Monday (June 1).

In an exclusive interview with The Star, the newly-appointed Mr Mueller stressed, however, that the massive job cull was a necessary pain and gave his assurance that the process of selecting who makes it into MAS’ new company Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) has been conducted fairly and equally.

“I did not assume the role just to terminate jobs. On the personal side, my biggest worry from a human and a leadership point is that this procedure has the potential to create a two-class society in that we will have winners and losers.

“And that is very regrettable,” he told the English daily in the interview yesterday.

Mr Mueller added that MAS has highly qualified people for certain functions but did not have the job placement for them in the restructuring.

He said the layoff was necessary as the airlines needed lesser staff as part of the new entity, which focuses on regional flights.

Monday will be the deadline day for MAS to decide if 20,000 of their employees would still have jobs, Mr Mueller also revealed.

“We have left our staff for too long with the uncertainty. It’s our utmost obligation to put an end to the uncertainty so that everybody can go on with their lives,” he was quoted as saying.

Mr Mueller also admitted that he did not expect all the staff to accept the job offers by MAB on Monday but remained confident that it can be sorted out.

“If we have an acceptance rate below 100 per cent, we will have a second round and offer those jobs to people who did not receive offers the first time around,” he said adding that there might even be a third round.

Two-thirds of the MAS employees are set to be absorbed back by MAB. Those who will be terminated will get an ex-gratia payment of a month’s salary for every service year.

For those who have served in the carrier for more than 10 years, the package offers a payment of 1.5 months of their basic salary for every service year, which is in accordance with the Collective Agreement previously signed.

The termination is part of the plan to restructure MAS into a smaller entity of only 14,000 staff. The airline’s assets and liabilities are to be transferred to MAB on Sept 1 to take over operations. THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE

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