The abrupt exit of Malaysia Airlines' German boss has revived debate in Malaysia over the wisdom of picking a foreigner to run its ailing carrier, potentially limiting the group's options as it seeks a new leader midway through a radical revamp.
Christoph Mueller, a German national credited with turning around Aer
Lingus, took the helm at state-owned Malaysia Airlines in May last year
on a three-year contract, as it attempted to pull itself back after the
loss of two Boeing 777s in less than a year.
Among the front-runners to replace him as CEO is chief operating
officer and Irishman Peter Bellew, formerly with Ryanair, who sits on
the group's board, industry sources and sources familiar with the matter
said.
Another is Malaysian executive Mohammed Shazalli Ramly, head of
unlisted telecommunications firm Celcom Axiata Bhd, who has no
experience in airlines but joined the board last year.
"It is a strategic national company with lots of national pride
involved. When they hired (Mueller), they cannot just say they did not
anticipate this from the beginning," said Tian Chua, national vice
president of opposition party PKR.
He said his party had advised the government in 2014 that it was "unfair" to bring in a foreigner for the job.
"The point is that the government did not properly consider all the possible factors that affect this decision."
Surprising even those close to him in the company, Mueller announced
his departure for unspecified family reasons late on Tuesday, giving no
further detail. He will leave the top job in September, though he
remains a non-executive director.
With little detail to go on, politicians, newspapers and social media
have blamed the exit on everything from internal disagreements to
political rows and friction with Khazanah, the Malaysian sovereign
wealth fund which bankrolled the bail-out.
Mueller dismissed rumours in a "town hall" meeting with employees,
according to newspaper reports. The government has not commented, while
Khazanah has said it would have wanted Mueller to continue, but
respected his decision. It has not commented further.
Malaysia Airlines said any comment on succession is all speculative at the moment.
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But whatever the real reason, analysts say, fresh debate over the
choice of a foreigner for the top job will prove a headache for the
government and the airline, which had anticipated Mueller would give way
to a local successor in time.
"For stability, an internal (candidate) sounds better, but who
knows," said Mohsin Aziz, analyst at Maybank Investment Bank in Kuala
Lumpur.
Shazalli Ramly, if appointed, would not be the first executive
without an industry background to successfully run an airline: Kazuo
Inamori turned around Japan Airlines (JAL) with no previous experience
at all in aviation management.
But such appointments and successes are rare.
Any successor will also be expected to complete the course chartered
by Mueller - and it is all even tougher, analysts predict, in a country
where running the flag carrier involves unions who have close ties to
the ruling party.
"(Mueller) made the airline more professional and I don't know if
that will continue with his departure," one company executive said.
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