Malaysia Airline senior managers taking pay cut

Malaysia Airlines will cut the salaries of some senior managers as part of the carrier's cost-cutting drive after suffering heavy financial losses recently, a newspaper report said Sunday.

Division heads reporting to the top management will take a voluntary pay cut of between 15 percent and 30 percent from next month, the New Sunday Times said, citing a memo from the carrier's chairman Munir Majid to senior managers on Thursday.

Other measures include the deferment of non-critical investments and services, and a freeze on recruitment.

An official at Malaysia Airlines System Bhd., speaking on condition of anonymity, said the memo was an internal matter.

The Times said the airline is expected to detail the cost-saving measures when it releases its July-September quarter results later this month.

It cited Munir as saying in the memo that Malaysia Airline's financial performance is precarious and has become a source for concern.

"There is now a need to extend the scope of the cost reduction focus and put in place more aggressive measures," he was quoted as saying.

The report added that Munir will waive his allowance as acting managing director for one month. A new managing director, Idris Jala, is due to take over next month.

Idris replaces Ahmad Fuaad Dahlan, who was apparently forced out on Aug. 22 after the airline announced a loss of 280.7 million ringgit (US$73.9 million; Ђ61.5 million) in the April-June quarter, mainly due to soaring fuel costs.

After the loss, the carrier, which owns Southeast Asia's biggest passenger plane fleet of some 100 aircraft, said it plans to revamp its operations to generate 1 billion ringgit (US$266 million; Ђ221 million) in profit within five years, reported AP. P.T.