Malaysia Airlines… The name of this airline evokes for most of our friends a negative sentiment. And for good reason: nearly 400 passengers perished in the two disasters of flights MH370 and MH17 that occurred within months of each other, in March and July 2014.
After a very difficult period, Malaysia Airlines has managed to rise from its ashes and return to the best level in the world. A look back at these 4 years that almost marked the end of this booming airline.
A very troubled recent history
Everything seemed to be going well for this Asian airline: in full expansion since the early 2000s, Malaysia Airlines had the ambition to reach the quality of service of its Asian neighbors such as Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways.
In addition toits high quality on-board service, Malaysia Airlines was one of the only Southeast Asian airlines to order the Airbus flagship A380, which it will deploy to its most prestigious routes such as London and Paris.
The quality of service in all classes was rewarded in 2009 with the5-star SkyTrax award, the highest possible distinction in the world of air transport (even if, at TravelGuys, we are very skeptical about this not very serious organization).
But in March 2014 comes the worst thing that can be feared in an airline: the crash, in this case of flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, whose aircraft and passengers remain unfound at the time of writing, without any clue about the cause of the accident. 239 passengers died.
And decidedly, fate was relentless: in July 2014, in great confusion, flight MH17 disappeared from radar at high altitude without any change in its trajectory or speed: it had just been shot down by a ground-to-air missile lost in the Russian conflict in the Balkans.
Two events that are difficult to swallow for an airline that is still in the making.
Some adjustments to regain profitability
Right after these two disasters, the airline had to make some adjustments to win back customers in a mega-competitive market on the one hand, and to reduce its operational costs on the other.
Also, in early 2015, the executive committee unveileda new strategic plan to win back customers.
In addition to the cutting of 6,000 jobs and some regional routes, many international routes have been discontinued and the A380s have been put on standby. And for good reason, they are empty!
Besides, the airlineis still trying to get rid of it…
Undeniable assets to move forward
Malaysia Airlines has however important assets to experience a second life:
- It is an airline that is in a geographical area where competition is fierce but whose market is booming, on the one hand because of the demographic expansion that continues unabated and on the other hand because of the explosion of purchasing power that is driving travel consumption to unprecedented levels.
- Labor costs are still very low in Malaysia, including for service professions.
- Tourism continues to grow in the country. And that there is still a lot of room for improvement before we reach mass tourism…
There is plenty of room to recover from such a crisis, just as Garuda Indonesia has done.
A revisited product
Malaysia Airlines has a 5 stars SkyTrax rating. If you follow the blog, you could see at the beginning of January that the experience justifies it.
Malaysia, however, is making a big impact with the configuration of its new Airbus A350-1000: 4 First suites, 35 Business seats in Full Access, 27 Premium seats and 220 Economy seats.
And a very good service that we had the pleasure to try again recently. Undeniably, she has everything of a great airline. And the First class looks very promising:
Conclusion
The airline now has everything it needs to continue its development. While the two disasters of 2014 remain in the mind, it has modern aircraft and well-trained crews that allow it to deliver a 5-star service. And well-calculated prices to fill flights: in the end, this is what will be key in the coming months: ensuring aircraft load factors to regain market share on the region’s legacy aircraft.
