MAB is the new company for MAS after months of speculations, it was recently disclosed in the media and also from an Enrich program where it announced that Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah), has appointed Dato’ Mohammad Faiz Azmi of PricewaterhouseCoopers, as Administrator of MAS.
Under the MAS Act, the Administrator plays a critical role, which includes facilitating the transfer of selected assets and liabilities to a new company, MAB, which will replace MAS as Malaysia’s new national carrier.
New Company for MAS
The appointment of the Administrator reflects the continuing and considerable effort towards the beginning of a new airline, MAB. We intend the transition to MAB to be seamless with no interruption to airline services.
MAB will become operational on 1 September 2015, with a new business model and a new management team, which will be led by Christoph Mueller, CEO of Malaysia Airlines and CEO-Designate of the new airline. These upcoming changes will not have an impact on flights, schedules, or the Enrich program.
With the news out, we should be expecting possibly a new logo for MAB plus more information in the months to come as this is a massive part of the restructuring program undertaken by Malaysia Airlines since last year.
Khazanah said in a statement recently that MAS would continue to operate until August 31, 2015, after which MAB Bhd would take over business operations. A report also claimed that MAS would terminate its entire staff and re-employ two-thirds of the 20,000 workers under new conditions.
According to the deal crafted by Khazanah, those who will eventually be offered employment at the new company Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) will also not be left out.
Those who accept employment at MAB will be paid a sign-on payment of two months pay with their first month's salary at the newco and another two months upon completing 18 months service at the newco as part of its retention payment.
Conclusion
On August 30 2014, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, MAS's sole shareholder, unveiled a radical plan to revive MAS that called for job cuts, a capital injection of up to RM6 billion and the creation of a new company to carry out the airline business.
MAB is the acronym for Malaysia Airlines Berhad and not to be confused with Malaysia Airports Berhad which also carries the MAB branding who manages the airports in Malaysia and overseas.