MAS - Air Asia: The chicken and pig joke

Tony F and Kamaruddin Meranun is out. Dato Azman Yahya resigned from the Air Asia board. Supposedly he represents Khazanah's interest.

Rocky Bru here claimed Danny Nanny will eventually leave. So should the CFO and Head of Engineering from Air Asia.

Ahmad Jauhari aka AJ will have a free hand to run MAS. No more nonsense such as CEO for Long Haul and CEO for Short and Medium Haul.

It is obvious. The CEO for Short and Medium is in Tony F's market and truly friendly with him. He is also being given to take charge of aircraft financing, finance, MAS Sdn Bhd, etc. It is an insult to AJ as CEO to be made to look like a puppet.

And AJ, watchout for your sister. The staff are getting annoyed with her.

Big Dog here argued that collaboration is needed to face up to the "open sky" policy. The broad stroke looks fair but the taste has to be in the pudding. However, a series of possible JV mentioned made Syed Akbar here sceptical.

The Mole posed the question: Will the MAS-Air Asia CCF work? There is an old MBA joke from a lawyer classmate related to collaboration ...

The pig and chicken agreed to enter the breakfast business. The pig will supply the bacon and the chicken will supply the egg.

It's a wonderful arrangement. Bacon and egg for breakfast. Both thought they can do well and corner the market.

So they decide to do a Joint-Venture Agreement.

While reading through the draft agreement, the pig realised he will have to sacrifice himself to be made into bacon. The pig raised the issue with the lawyer and the chicken in a meeting.

The lawyer explain, "It's common in a Joint-Venture Agreement. One of you will get slaughtered."

To Mat Diah representing all the MAS Unions seeking input for their meeting with management tomorrow Saturday, be reminded of this joke. AJ wants to regain the trust of the staff. Give him a chance.

But ask what is Air Asia putting in all the planned collaboration, especially Joint Venture. Be wary of them. No "air liur" only. If they have no people, no expertise, no plant and machinery, and what ever, put money where their mouth is or tell Tony F to shut up.

Union should engage regularly with management. Give input and not be interested only on self interest matters. Save the company and the company will be in the capacity to reward you.

Remember that the rakyat that have supported them seek upon them and management to turn MAS around. They want MAS to continue to fly our Malaysian flag with pride. And return MAS back to it's glory days.

Sacrifices have to be done. There are few sacrifices in mind.

First, review the 10% ticket fare.

It is ridiculous that those retired MAS staff, no more working and contributing the company, are still given such privileges. The biggest abusers of this privilege are the former senior management and former members of the Board of Directors.

Look at the picture above of former glamorous but failed CEO Dato Fuad Dahalan in In Focus magazine. He failed as a CEO and destroyed the hope of ever a CEO to come from within MAS.

In the magazine, he gloated of spending much of his retirement traveling abroad. That must be the 10% ticket fare.

Also abusing their status to earn up-grades like buying economy ticket but flying business class or first class are the royals, especially the Negeri Sembilan and Pahang royalties. That should explain where many MAS Managers get their Datukship from. Really no class.

This has to stop. MAS cannot continue such privileges. Neither could they have half price for Government pensioners. They just can't afford it now.

Second, review back the role and cost of maintaining the Adviser. He has to be placed on the sacrificial altar.

Does he have any significant role in MAS? What advise has he given? Answer is none and none.

Tun Abdullah erred in his selection of CEOs and slept in the midst of the Airline Rationalisation Plan that became the root of MAS problem. He gave favourable treatment to Air Asia.

What is his gaji buta salary from MAS? It is heard that MAS had to absorb the cost of renovating his office in Putrajaya. What nonsense?

If he is so recalcitrant to stay on and has no shame, leak the information and let Donald Lim squirm to answer in Parliament. There is no reason to keep this man at all.

Voice it openly!

Third, MAS should not be sacrificed for the wealth accumulation of the Adviser's brother. Or is it the Adviser himself?

MAS should get caterer other than MAS Catering aka Tamadam aka Berahim, so that they have choices to pick to get the best price and product. Airport's KLAS is heard capable of doing that.

Find some loophole in the contract and make them compete. If there is none, use political muscle. Better still, open the book to MACC. The public would like to know.

MAS food service quality have dropped.

If Berahim cannot deliver, let their sales plunge and bleed. Otherwise, sell back to MAS for cheapo.

Forth, review back the outsourcing of IT. The invisible owner is believed to be a member of the board of MAS, that is Dato Azman Yahya.

Sacrifice him.

Make it be known publicly that the former Danaharta Chief had his hand in the cookie jar.

How can something so strategic and important be outsourced? It is like allowing their MIS leaked to outsiders. And it is like exposing the company operation to threat by outside party.

Fifth, review back Danny's new installed accounting system that centralised rather decentralised payment to suppliers and service providers globally.

Gila budak yang tidak ada pengalaman ini!

Does he not think of the consequence of payment to London suppliers having to wait for cheques from Kuala Lumpur?

Sacrifice the system and let him pay back the company from his accumulated salary.

Sixth, heard Panamera Deadwood quit. Good, he abuse his position to travel abroad, offer nothing of value to the organisation and undertaking academic pursuit at company's time, but kept getting promoted.

In MAS, there are lots of incompetent deadwoods taken in from the days of Idris Jala. There are lots of managers only managing 2 to 3 people. Some of these managers have attitude and no heart of human that none wants to be under them.

There senior managers with no managers under them. It is not a surprise to find AGM and GMs with only 20 staff under their authority.

Sacrifice these incompetent managers!

There has to be a certain number of people under a person to be assigned titles, especially those big and fancy titles. Comb through the organisation chart and they should find lots of them.

Seventh, union must sacrifice by cooperating with management to move to KLIA.

There is no two way about it. MAS cannot operate with offices all over the place from Subang to Kelana Jaya, Kuala Lumpur and KLIA.

However, if there is something to be made from Subang property development, MAS or Koperasi MAS must benefit from it.

Eigth, unions must sacrifice to help management to plug loopholes and wastage in the organisation, even how small or how big it is. All will add up.

Work together to cut cost and improve sales.

Union must work hand in hand to give feedback and help management in the running of MAS. No more us versus them attitude. That is colonial mentality.

In the case of corrupt Managers and Management, the union should report them to MACC.

Ninth, Danny had undertake indiscriminate cancellation of services like Middle East hub, Dubai, Buenos Aires and Indonesian points.

It was through hard earned effort to secure routes to Rome and South America via South Africa. The cancellation sacrificed the airline network and gave others the opportunity to fill the void.

Tenth, MAS has to be clear what name will be their battle cry to gather and lead the troop; MAS, Malaysia Airlines or Mas?

It can be costly for the airline to use different names in the same market or different market.

Sound like an idea coming from a boy who doesn't understand business. Sacrifice this idea to the bonfire.

That'll be all for now

The CCF must not mean MAS has to abandon all their plans and not Air Asia. Shell and Exxon can do JV for upstream but they do not close up their gas station for the other to enter.

Why did Khazanah did not pay any attention to MAS internal plans? True that MAS suffered due to lack of leadership and stewardship. Let's be honest, whose fault was it? The staff or the Government-owner? Both?

The Government and leaders had been hoodwinked by Tony Fernandez and his so-called success story that they refuse to hear the true professionals of the Malaysian aviation.

Air Asia was allowed have their way and no proper management team was put in place. Such occurrence must end immediately and the incompetent ones involved packed their bags and get sacrificed.

Up-dated: 11:00 PM