Malaysia Airlines "technically bankrupt", says chief executive

Kuala Lumpur, June 2: Malaysia Airlines chief executive Christopher Mueller on Monday announced a restructuring programme and plans to cut about 6,000 jobs while announcing that the airline is "technically bankrupt". [MH 370, MH 17 got media attention but not the deadliest Mediterranean migrant disaster]

Mueller's announcement came following the twin air disasters last year that resulted in nationalisation of the carrier.

Mueller, who was appointed in May, however, said that the decline of performance started long before the two disasters of 2014. According to experts, the move was expected to be made in some time.

The airline is operating normally and no flights have been affected so far.

In March last year, a Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 disappeared mysteriously after taking off for Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board. Several theories made the rounds about its whereabout but the plane is yet to be traced.

In July, flight MH 17, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was allegedly shot down by pro-Russia insurgents in Ukraine. Two-hundred and ninty-eight people on board were killed.

Mueller, who is nicknamed "the Terminator" for cutting jobs at the airlines, was making his first public appearance as Malaysia Airlines's chief executive since being hired by Khazanah, the carrier's owner, to lead the turnaround.

Mueller had previously worked at Ireland's Aer Lingus, Belgium's Sabena and Germany's Lufthansa airlines.

Oneindia News