00:00After eight years at the helm, Datuk captain Izzam Ismail is stepping into the sea.
00:05Leaving down as Group Managing Director of Malaysia Aviation Group MAG.
00:10Leaving behind an airline that has transformed from the brink of collapse to sustained profitability.
00:15When Izzam took over as CEO in December 2017,
00:20Malaysia Airlines was drowning in debt.
00:2325.7 billion ringgars.
00:25With negative cash flow running into triple digit millions.
00:30My first week was actually a very huge realisation.
00:35Of the magnitude of the problems Malaysia has.
00:40So I asked myself, where do I go? Where do I start?
00:45What should I do?
00:47Of course, I believe very strongly.
00:50For me to move on.
00:52Forward.
00:53I need to fast.
00:55Forward.
00:56What is the ambition of the organisation?
01:00And what is my purpose in this role?
01:03And we fast forward to right now.
01:05Right up to 2035.
01:07From there, 2035.
01:10That was the end state.
01:11That was the end state.
01:12That we should.
01:13I mean I.
01:15I personally dream of what MEG should be like 2035, 2040.
01:20To backtrack.
01:21And we establish a business plan.
01:25The COVID-19 pandemic, ironically, became the turning point.
01:30And I realised at the onset of COVID, this is an opportunity.
01:35Opportunity.
01:36Opportunity to reset our balance sheet.
01:38Bring all the credit.
01:40That's together.
01:41And put, make them understand.
01:43If they don't work.
01:45With us.
01:46In Malaysia Evasion Group.
01:47Malaysia Airlines Exit.
01:48No.
01:49Were no longer.
01:50Australia Exists.
01:51And they have aeroplanes in their country.
01:55In their portfolio with us.
01:57At that time in COVID, what do they do?
02:00With aeroplanes.
02:01Nobody wants them.
02:03MAG used a.
02:05UK court sanction scheme.
02:06To negotiate with 75 creditors.
02:09Slashing liability.
02:10From 25.7 billion.
02:12To just 9 billion ringgit.
02:14In 100.
02:15233 days.
02:16Creditors took haircuts totalling roughly 10 billion ringgit.
02:20From that point onward is the inflection.
02:25of Malaysia Aviation Group.
02:27Malaysia Island specifically.
02:30The balance sheet becomes lean and agile,
02:32and we have a lot of breathing space.
02:35And also coming up from Covid,
02:38we saw future opportunities
02:40where the market is very cautious.
02:43We're talking about V.
02:45We took a very high risk,
02:48and I call it a positive.
02:50A positive risk environment.
02:52And we felt very strongly that
02:55this is the right time for us to go back to market.
02:57And we were the first few airlines that went back
03:00to market in the early years of 2021.
03:032021, we went back to market.
03:05And we believe very strongly at that time was
03:08premium product was
03:10the center stage.
03:11So we went straight on,
03:13on premium product.
03:15And we redesigned our commercial strategy.
03:20rather than competing on volume.
03:22MAG focused on premium traffic
03:25and network connectivity
03:26through its Kuala Lumpur hub,
03:28connecting Europe, Australia,
03:30India, and China.
03:32The results.
03:33Four consecutive years.
03:35Of profitability.
03:36With load factors averaging 84%.
03:38And passenger numbers.
03:40Nearly doubling from 10 million in 2019
03:42to 18 million last year.
03:45Because of our network flow,
03:47it's not a point-to-point strategy.
03:49It's a...
03:50network flow.
03:51What does it entail?
03:53What does it entail?
03:55London to Phnom Penh.
03:57Via Kuala Lumpur.
03:58Right?
03:59London...
04:00London to...
04:01Bali.
04:02Via Kuala Lumpur.
04:03Krabi.
04:04Krabi and so forth.
04:05So we...
04:06That was our winning formula.
04:08And most importantly,
04:09Claren...
04:10The winning formula is our people.
04:11The people...
04:12When I took over the job in...
04:13The people...
04:14When I took over the job in...
04:152017...
04:16People were...
04:18Confused.
04:19Don't know...
04:20Where we're heading.
04:21Moral was...
04:22Extremely...
04:23Low or...
04:24Non...
04:25Existing.
04:26To...
04:27By and large...
04:28A huge degree.
04:29So...
04:30Align the people...
04:30Know what is our product that we're going to market, customer experience.
04:34Being Malaysian...
04:35what's our what's the value of being Malaysia because we're the humility
04:40empathy that Malaysian is such as their their DNA so hence for we leverage on
04:45that the values of being Malaysian and that became a product Malaysian hospitality
04:50so from that point onwards Kieran we will speed to market after Covid
04:55and we redesigned our network right bear in mind we still we still operate
05:00everything H aeroplane which will come back later and that gives us
05:05that hockey stick so it's been five
05:10years post Covid this is the sixth year
05:15it's it's been profitable for the last four years
05:18today
05:20Malaysia Airlines operates 89 aircraft but connects to over 1100
05:25destinations globally through partnerships with revenue surpassing 14 billion
05:30ringgit the fleet is set to grow to 116 aircraft by 20
05:352035 with new fuel-efficient Boeing 737 max and
05:40Airbus A330 neo deliveries Kieran over the last many years
05:45a lot of money has been pumped into Malaysia Airlines right it can be
05:50argued is taxpayers money it can be argued is from the sovereign fund and so forth but
05:55it is the responsibility of 14,000 people in MEG
06:00to recognize that the mandate is given by who 35 million
06:05people so we have to make it good after 45 years with the airline
06:10Izzam is now handing over to captain Nasruddin A. Bakar leaving behind a battle
06:15tested team
06:16it was done with our eyes wide open so that this
06:20young team will be able to take Malaysia Efficient Group to 2035 right
06:25and and and and I'm confident this leadership bench which is young
06:30has an experience has a conviction they've gone to war with
06:35me they fight so many battles along the way over the last five six seven years
06:40right there are battle proven to take this
06:45organization moving forward
06:47Izzam who started as a second officer in nineteen
06:50seventy nine says he will continue rooting for Malaysia Airlines
06:54Malaysia
06:55Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines is in the right place at the right time
07:00we must take advantage of this opportunity we must take advantage of this opportunity we must take
07:05advantage in all corners to be ahead of the curve and
07:10while this is happening I'm a retired old man I'll be rooting
07:15for the country I'll be rooting for the country I'll be rooting for Malaysia Airlines and I
07:20pray and wish clear weather for Malaysia Efficient Group
07:25for the country I'll be rooting for Malaysia
07:26for Malaysia Efficient Group
07:28for Malaysia Efficient Group
07:30Thanks for joining us
07:35You
Comments