Malaysia Airlines is ‘technically bankrupt’, its new German CEO said, after confirming plans to cut 6,000 jobs.
We are technically bankrupt and that decline of performance started long before the tragic events of 2014 - Christoph Mueller told reporters, referring to two deadly disasters that rocked the airline last year.
Malaysia Airlines sent termination letters to all of its roughly 20,000 employees, followed by new contracts offered to 14,000 of them.
Under Mueller, 52, the carrier plans to ‘re-invent’ itself beginning from September 1 with an unspecified new brand image and expected new livery as it seeks to shed the stigma of a disastrous 2014.
In March of last year, Flight MH370 disappeared with 239 passengers and crew aboard and remains missing till date.
Four months later, Flight MH17 was blown out of the sky by a suspected ground-to-air missile over Ukraine and all 298 people on board were killed.
Mueller said he planned to ‘stop the bleeding’ in 2015, stabilise the business next year, and seek to start growing again by 2017.
Besides cutting staff, Malaysia Airlines is expected to trim unprofitable long-haul routes.