-Employees will go after disappearance of MH370 and MH17 shooting down
-Almost 200 cabin crew have quit in recent weeks; some too scared to fly
-Airline will be completely taken over by the Malaysian government
Malaysia Airlines is to sack a third of the workforce – as it struggles to overcome the twin disasters that have hit it this year.
Around 6,000 members of staff will lose their jobs following the disappearance of flight MH370 over the southern Indian Ocean in March and the shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine last month.
The announcement comes just days after the airline admitted almost 200 cabin crew had quit in recent weeks, with many citing family pressures and some claiming they were too scared to fly.
The MH370 incident, on March 8, involved a Boeing 777 plane en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard. Despite intensive searches, no trace of the aeroplane has been found and a fresh hunt has now been instigated.
The Ukraine incident on July 17 again involved a Boeing 777. The flight, with 298 people on board including 10 Britons, was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
It is believed the aircraft was brought down by a missile fired by pro-Russian separatists. Black box flight recorders have been recovered from the scene and an interim report on the crash is expected soon from the Dutch Safety Board which is in overall charge of the investigation.
The job losses, announced in Kuala Lumpur, are part of a major restructuring of the airline which will see a new chief executive in place next year, as well as the carrier being completely taken over by the Malaysian government.
There will also be a restructuring of routes flown, although the twice-daily service between Heathrow airport in west London and Kuala Lumpur, on which the world’s largest passenger plane the Airbus A380 superjumbo operates, is set to continue.
A London-based Malaysia Airlines spokesman said: ‘The London-Kuala Lumpur route is highly successful and will carry on. However, p assengers have been reporting that the beleaguered airline is flying near-empty planes.
‘Today’s announcement is all about rebuilding the airline after these two awful incidents. The airline is being reshaped and the aim is to return it to profitability.’
Malaysia Airlines has also slashed its prices for long-haul routes and is giving away flights as it struggles to hold onto customers.
The beleaguered airline is offering a sale from Heathrow Airport to Kuala Lumpur and nine other destinations in Malaysia, with return economy class flights selling for as little as £570 on select dates.
It is also offering cut-price deals to customers in Australia and New Zealand, and is reportedly giving away 12 return flights to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, as part of a competition called ‘My Ultimate Bucket List’
