Dr M: We’ll look into offers to buy ailing MAS

KUALA LUMPUR: Several parties have expressed interest in buying over the troubled Malaysia Airlines (MAS), says Prime Minister Tun Dr Maha­thir Mohamad.

“We want to study whether or not we should sell (MAS).

“Although the management is externally appointed, MAS is still suffering losses. So, one of the ways is to sell (it),” he said at a press conference in Parliament lobby yesterday.

Dr Mahathir said there had been a proposal from former MAS executives to keep the airlines under the government’s purview.

“We will consider whether we want to either downsize or expand the management or to have new management.

“We have many planes that haven’t been used adequately and this is causing losses,” he said.

Asked for his personal view on the matter, Dr Mahathir said: “I love MAS but it seems as though we can’t afford it.”

On the offers by former MAS workers to help the airlines, the Prime Minister said lower-ranked staff members were interested in providing services but lamented the dismal strategies employed by the top executives.

“For example, the government gave RM6bil to MAS and with that, MAS sacked 6,000 workers,” he added.

Last week, Dr Mahathir said the government would conduct a study to decide MAS’ fate after its losses caused massive impairment to its sole shareholder Khazanah Nasion­al Bhd.

Khazanah had recently accounted that half of its RM7.3bil impairments registered last year was to sustain MAS. Last year, Khazanah recorded a pre-tax loss of RM6.3bil.

MAS was taken private by Khaz­anah Nasional Bhd as part of a five-year turnaround programme which commenced in 2014.