SINGAPORE: Malaysia Airlines has lost just 12 engineers to SIA Engineering Company Limited (SIAEC) following the latter’s opening of its facility at Subang Airport last year.
The number was revealed by Mr Izham Ismail – the group managing director of Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) – in an interview with local media published on Friday (Sep 13).
MAG is the parent company of Malaysia Airlines.
“Malaysia Airlines loses engineers to SIAEC? Yes, we do but not in great numbers as per the heavy chatters were chattering about,” Mr Izham was quoted as saying by Malaysia’s Business Times.
Online discussions over alleged poaching of staff members by SIAEC began after Malaysia Transport Minister Anthony Loke on Aug 28 shared that 63 qualified engineers from Malaysia Airlines’ engineering arm – MAB Engineering Services – had left the firm out of a total of 411 since January this year.
The figure surfaced following an audit done by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) on Malaysia Airlines and MAB Engineering Services from Jun 24 to Jun 28.
“CAAM found that these resignations may be due to more attractive salary offers from other maintenance companies,” Mr Loke was quoted as saying then.
SIAEC opened its maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Subang in September 2023 through its subsidiary – Base Maintenance Malaysia.
SIAEC was quoted in local media as saying that its recruitment activities in the country have been conducted through open exercises, ensuring a fair and transparent process that complies with local regulations and industry standards.
Meanwhile, Mr Izham was quoted on Friday as saying that his firm is working with a number of technical schools in Malaysia to train new aircraft engineers and technicians each year.
“We churn out in a year roughly about 60 to 70 engineers, technicians about 100. That is our planning for attrition, retirement and so forth,” Mr Izham told Malaysia’s Business Times.
He added that MAG’s engineering division is bogged by a 40-year culture that is the hardest to change in the firm.
“My number one priority that I’m doing is resetting (the engineering division),” Mr Izham said, adding that he wants to give it a fresh start by incentivising productivity.
Just last month, MAG announced that it will cut 20 per cent of its capacity for Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and Amal until December amid a shortage of planes, labour and parts.
Analysts whom CNA spoke to then lauded the firm’s decision to put safety over profitability even as they warn that MAG’s move highlights deep-rooted issues that need to be rectified quickly in order to regain customers’ confidence.
