18 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION DECEMBER 2017W
hen the heads of Asia’s
major airlines gathered
in Taiwan’s capital
Taipei in late October
for their annual talkfest,
the Association of Asia
Pacific Airlines (AAPA) Assembly
of Presidents, there was one notable
absentee.
With good reason. The now former
chief of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Peter
Bellew was instead heading back to his
Irish homeland to take up a new job
as chief operating officer of budgeteer
Ryanair after accepting what everyone
is convinced was an offer he couldn’t
refuse.
From an AAPA point of view
he was sorely missed. Not only was
Bellew supposed to have participated
in a panel session discussing “Evolving
Business Models” in the airline
industry, during his brief tenure at
MAS he had become a favourite
speaker at meetings and conferences
because of his deep industry knowledge
and Irish wit. (He was more than a
raconteur. At the assembly a year
earlier in Manila he delighted delegates
at the traditional event-ending gala
dinner by getting on stage and rocking
the audience with a few songs delivered
in a more than professional manner.)
The question now is: where
does Malaysia Airlines go after his
departure? This is the only airline in the
world that has had four chief executives
in three years. It is in the middle of a
major restructure aiming to get it from
bankruptcy to profit by next year.
Surprisingly, since it is a process
that usually takes months, the airline’s
board moved quickly to appoint a
replacement. He is Captain Izham
Ismail, a long-time employee of the
carrier with 38 years of experience.
He started with MAS as a pilot and
rose through the ranks to be director
of operations, later chief executive of
subsidiary MAS Wings and until now,
chief operating officer of MAS.
Not so surprisingly, he is a local.culture of optimism amongst staff.
“Bellew’s departure, if anything, has
merely accelerated our plans to localise
the leadership of Malaysia Airlines
group,’’ MAS chairman Nor Yusof said
in an email to the entire workforce.
Indeed, the 12-point MAS Recovery
Plan (MRP) envisioned a return to
leadership by local talent eventually.
Besides, Izham has been deeply
involved in the restructure from the
beginning and will certainly be able to
power on with what needs to be done
with little interruption or change.
Nevertheless, the airline’s board
is well aware some local chiefs have
had problems in the past gaining
the confidence of all sections of the
workforce. Chairman Nor has urged
the staff to rally support for the new
group CEO, saying MAS flights must
continue to take off and land on time,
and continue to provide sincere and
genuine Malaysian hospitality across
every customer touch point.
“We have weathered many storms
together as a family and we will come
back stronger and better than ever...it
is critical now more than ever that you
all continue to focus and deliver what is
required of each of you. The nation is
counting on us all to make this airline
the pride of the nation once again. We
should not allow anything to derail us
from achieving this,” he said.
To ensure a smooth transition, a
board executive committee will be in
place for up to six months. It will be led
by Nor and two other directors. Bellew
himself took to social media to give his
successor some backing.
He used Instagram to congratulate
Izham with an emotional tribute: “My
friend Izham is new group CEO of
MAS. A proud dad and granddad.
Aviation professional. Technical geek.
Outstanding pilot. But most important- a wonderful man. He will be a great
leader of this special airline. I am very
proud of you Izham. I’ll pray for your
success. I hope you still have me on
speed dial. God Bless You,” he wrote.
Asia Watch TOM BALLANTYNE
A smooth transition
MAS looks for leadership stability with new local CEO
After losing German Christoph Mueller- a turnaround specialist known as
“The Terminator” – prematurely in
2016 just a year into his much-vaunted
plan to bring MAS back to financial
health, Bellew hit the road after only 18
months in charge.
With two foreign chief executives
departing surprisingly early there was
no way the carrier was going to look
overseas for a replacement. Many
insiders believe these repeated changes
in leadership bode ill for an airline that
has a financial record that would give
any self-respecting business owner
nightmares. It has, with stunning
regularity, plunged from record profits
to bankruptcy over the years, hardly
helped by the twin air disasters in
2014, the mysterious disappearance of
MH370 in the Indian Ocean and the
shoot-down of MH17 over Ukraine.
There is, however, some reason to
hope the future still looks reasonably
bright. While Mueller (now with
Emirates Airline) and Bellew have
gone to greener pastures, they have left
in place a solid transformation plan.
Bellew especially has instilled a new
There is,
however,
some reason
to hope
the future
still looks
reasonably
bright.
Malaysia Airlines is now under
the command of former pilot
Izham Ismail. ROB FINLAYSON