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April 14th, 2016 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : Seven airlines in Malaysia have established the new Association of Malaysian Air Carriers (AMAC). The association is open to all Malaysian air carriers. AMAC’s founding airlines are Malaysia Airlines Bhd, MASwings, Firefly, AirAsia Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, Malindo Air and Berjaya Air. AMAC has been established against the backdrop of controversies that engulf several of its founding members.
The official launch of AMAC is pending the approval of the registration of the association by Malaysian authorities, which can be considered as a formality. Malaysian Airlines and AirAsia issued a joint statement on Thursday, saying that the purpose of establishing the association was to create a common platform for carriers to discuss industry-related issues.
Another purpose of AMAC would be to represent the voice of the airline industry and its interests among institutions, including the Ministry of Transport, Department of Civil Aviation and the Malaysian Aviation Commission.
The airlines also state that AMAC will engage in subjects such as enhanced air traffic control services, political matters of relevance for the industry, safety and security standards at airports, economic factors with regard to charges claimed by airports and other issues.
The statement also noted that by joining forces, the association would also promote healthier growth for the industry and create highly qualified jobs, both directly and indirectly, for the sector as well as for the broader aviation environment. The two most prominent founding members of AMAC, Malaysian Airlines and AirAsia have been the focal points of domestic and international scandals over the past years.
Association or Criminal Cartel?
Days after the disappearance of Flight MH370, and people continue to write encouraging messages to display at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Newzulu, Zaki Sulfadi.
Malaysian Airlines and the MAS to MAB Shell Game. Earlier this year the Malaysian government rushed legislation through parliament that not only disenfranchised the next of kin of those who perished in the scandalous disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and the downing of Flight MH17. The parliament also sanctioned and intricate shell game in the corporate restructuring of the carrier. Voice370, an advocacy organization for the next of kin stressed that the restructuring of Malaysian Airlines from MAS to MAB ensured they get the best of both worlds with little to no risk of any repercussions, to the detriment of the families of the victims onboard flights MH370 and MH17.
Further evidence to support the notion that the conversion of MAS to MAB was an elaborate name changing exercise is that Christoph Mueller, the chief executive of MAS, who was appointed on 1/5/2015, later assumed the same position with MAB. MAB also re-hired 14,000 of the 20,000 employees MAS terminated. Effectively MAS and MAB share not only the same owners but the same CEO and a majority of the staff too.
Voice370 noted that it is very obvious that all the legal gymnastics is merely to escape responsibility and liability towards those it is owed to by going so far as to pass legislation preventing / severely limiting rights to sue in Malaysia (Section 33 Act 765) or anywhere else in the world and even going the extra mile to ensure no judgement, order obtained, either in Malaysia or anywhere else in the world be enforceable (Section 34 Act 765). This would also effectively shield those criminally complicit for the disappearance of MH370 – a state sponsored mechanism to protect criminals if this is eventually established.
AirAsia and Its Need to Reinvent Itself. The other prominent founding member, AirAsia, has also been struck by tragedy. In December 2014 AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 crashed during its flight from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. The report released by the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Report identified maintenance and pilot competence as major concerns.
In March 2016 Murray Hunter analyzed AirAsia’s development and concluded its need to reinvent itself. Hunter pointed out that:
Within the last week Air Asia has been in the news for a couple of reasons. First, Air Asia in India made a press release announcing it had achieved a 134% growth in passenger traffic in the October-December quarter of 2015. This was an announcement AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandez was very proud of, also announcing that a dozen new aircraft would be operating in India within a very short time.
Murray Hunter noted that the low-cost carrier’s “success” also may be its downfall unless it reinvents itself. He noted that:
Air Asia flight D7206 from Kuala Lumpur to Coolangatta on 15th February made two emergency medical landings at Denpasar Bali, where the passengers ended up stranded there for the next 36 hours due to a number of procedural and operational issues. Stories emerged from some of the passengers about the lack of care they were given, having to pay USD 57 dollars for their own Indonesian visa (later reimbursed), and provided with no food and water for many hours after landing. More alarmingly, the pilot and crew of the aircraft allowed Indonesian authorities to take into custody one Iraqi passport holder without any protest, as Iraqi citizens were not eligible for a visa on arrival. After a failure to get clearance for take-off due to 9 passengers staying on in Bali or making their own way home, the flight was further grounded until 2.30pm the next afternoon where the entire plane load of passengers and crew staked out in the terminal under harsh conditions.
Cost cutting, poor maintenance and arguably, protocols that have over-worked pilots fly while under the influence of opioids may, indeed, become AirAisia’s downfall. Disturbingly, passengers tend to be falling together with planes when they drop out of the skies. The litmus test for the newly founded Association of Malaysian Air Carriers (AMAC) will be whether it uses the “platform for communication” constructively to enhance both competitiveness and security, or whether it institutionalizes Malaysia Airlines arguably criminal disenfranchisement of the next of kin of victims, and AirAsia’s cost cutting at any price. Cutting corners in the skies tends to be fatal.
And the Other “Founding Members of AMAC? As to MASwings, its a low-cost regional subsidiary of its parent company is Malaysian Airlines. In November 2014 a Malindo Air Boeing 737-900ER on flight OD206 from India, to Kuala Lumpur, had to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, Thailand, after loss of cabin pressure. The “parent company of Berjaya Air is the Berjaya Group. A consortium that, among others, is invested in resorts, gambling, food and beverages, as well as property.
CH/L – nsnbc 14.04.2016
Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2016/04/14/seven-airlines-in-malaysia-launch-association-progress-or-a-semi-criminal-cartel/
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