Myairline Affected Passengers To Be Refunded When New Investors Come

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Budget airline, MYAirline will only be able to refund passengers affected by the suspension of its operations once new investors come in.
According to its interim accountable executive Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the company is currently in the "final stages" of negotiating with potential investors.
"It's only a matter of time. Once we get the funding, then the process of refunds will start," Azharuddin told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.
Azharuddin stressed that he was "positive" that the troubled airline could provide refunds, but he could not provide a timeline.
On Saturday, Azharuddin announced that MYAirline was handling a high volume of over 12,000 emails, processing refunds to affected passengers.
MYAirline interim accountable executive Azharuddin Abdul Rahman (third from left)According to him, the airline will also set up a hotline for the purpose.
Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAAM) suspended MYAirline's operating license starting today.
The aviation authority said the suspension of the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) will be in force for 90 days, pending further probe by CAAM.
Azharuddin acknowledged during the press conference the company had dropped the ball on communicating with the authorities.
Admits to communication issues
"MYAirline also acknowledges its communication shortcomings with both Mavcom (Malaysian Aviation Commission) and the CAAM, specifically our failure to engage with authorities and passengers in a timely manner before deciding to temporarily suspend our operations.
"We issued the suspension notice at 0530 on Thursday morning.
"While we promptly cancelled the morning wave of flights on Thursday, we acknowledge that some passengers on later flights were already at the airport, and this was an oversight on our part."
He explained that MYAirline's sudden move to cease operations was due to their lack of a contingency plan, compounded by a last-minute investor withdrawal.
"The investors came a few days (before operations ceased), before that they already came, saw and talked to us, they're happy to take over and so forth.
"Wednesday, about 4:30 PM, they called up and said 'no deal... we're not going to close the deal'."
According to Azharuddin, MYAirline had approximately 900 employees affected by the suspension of operations, but all employees are still employed, and no one has been laid off or put on unpaid leave.
"It is important to note that all staff members remain under MYAirline’s employment, with no one being placed on unpaid leave or been terminated to date.
"We have met the Human Resources Ministry to update them on this matter,” he added.
Furthermore, he mentioned that the company has established an assistance fund to help affected employees.
Azharuddin added that once they secure the investors' funds, they will pay the employees' salaries.
In addition, Azharuddin also confirmed that the interim CEO of the company, Stuart Cross, has resigned and is no longer an employee of MYAirline.
As such, MYAirline has initiated a Service Recovery Plan and Business Continuity Plan, with a focus on improvements and increased accountability.
Exploring new partnerships
"A reprioritisation of objectives will also be done and announced once recapitalisation is completed.
"MYAirline is actively exploring strategic partnerships, having received several proposals,” Azharuddin stated.
He said that they would carefully evaluate these proposals, but he was unwilling to disclose the details.
"All these proposals are going through detailed evaluation and due diligence. It is important to note that discussions with lessors are ongoing to retain our aircraft.”
When asked if the son of Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg is a new investor, he refused to respond.
Earlier, Abang Johari had denied that his son would be an investor in the airline. - Mkini

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