SINGAPORE — Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will put a foreign chief executive in charge of reviving the deeply troubled national carrier after two high-profile plane crashes this year.
The state investment fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the biggest shareholder of MAS, on Friday announced the appointment of Christoph Mueller, currently group CEO of the Irish carrier Aer Lingus.
Mr Mueller will become the CEO of a new company being carved out of the listed carrier, Khazanah said in a statement. The new company, to be called Malaysia Airlines Bhd, will officially become operational July, it added.
The German national took the helm of Aer Lingus in 2009 and began a turnaround that involved hefty job cuts. He previously occupied top positions at the German flag carrier Lufthansa and the former Belgian carrier Sabena.
"Mr Mueller has a strong record of transformation and turnarounds in the aviation industry," Khazanah said.
"Among his key accomplishments, Mr Mueller has demonstrated particular strength in strategic and financial planning, as well as structural repositioning of companies in difficulties."
The Malaysian government is taking MAS private by buying out small shareholders for 1.38 billion ringgit (US$398 million) after the two crashes marred the already unprofitable carrier's reputation and hurt passenger numbers.
Flight MH370 vanished from radar screens on March 8 without any warning, while Flight MH17 was shot down in Ukraine in July. The two accidents killed a combined 537 people. No debris of MH370 has been found in the world’s longest search for a missing passenger jet in modern aviation history.
MAS announced earlier that Dec 12 would be its last day of trading as it begins the delisting and rehabilitation process.
Starting from Dec 15, it said, trading of its shares on Bursa Malaysia would be suspended as Khazanah begins buying out minority holders at 0.27 ringgit per share.
Khazanah has outlined a five-year plan to rehabilitate the airline, including the infusion of 6 billion ringgit ($1.7 billion), as well as a 30% cut in the airline's bloated 20,000-strong workforce.