The national flag carrier said this, in response to a statement by National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health chairman Lee Lam Thye that the airline had decreased the number of cabin crew staff per flight.
He specifically cited the number of cabin crew he had seen on board flights using the Boeing 737 aircraft.
“Apparently, this is the result of Malaysia Airlines’ cost-cutting measures as part of its rationalisation programme,” Lee had reportedly said.
Expressing his concern for the safety and welfare of passengers in the wake of a passenger threatening to “blow up” MAS flight MH128 from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday night, Lee said MAS should ensure there was always enough crew members to handle any situation.
Claiming to be “fully compliant with all international safety standards” for its crew, MAS said it was in fact operating one of the highest ratios in the world when it comes to the number of crew per passenger.
“There had been no change to the crew numbers on our Airbus A330-300 flights, which carry a ratio of a maximum of 29 passengers per crew member.
“The most common ratio of this aircraft operating in Malaysia from other airlines is 42 or 47 passengers per crew member,” MAS said in a statement.
The National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) also weighed in on the issue saying airlines, in general, must not make cost savings a priority over safety.
“Nufam is urging airlines to place safety above their business policies. We cannot reduce manpower and cut cost while at the same time compromise the safety and security of the flight.
“We have urged the airlines to look into this matter endlessly but they never seem to take the union’s proposals seriously,” it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Nufam also called for the transport ministry to enforce the hiring of more male flight attendants by local airlines.
Nufam made the call due to the incident on board MAS flight MH128 on Thursday, when a Sri Lankan male, who was released from a mental institute the day before tried to break into the cockpit just 10 minutes into the flight. He then threatened to blow up the plane claiming to have a bomb but holding what looked like a bluetooth speaker.
After passengers and a male cabin crew overpowered him and held him down, the pilot turned the aircraft back to Melbourne Airport where the man was arrested by police special forces.
“It is time for the transport ministry to make recommendations to airlines to hire male flight attendants. It’s crucial to have more male cabin crew members especially on long haul flights.
“Female crew members will not be able to handle situations like hijack or violent threats as they could be the first target of those who have intentions to do something on board,” Nufam said in a statement.
According to the union, the issue of more male crew members on long haul flights had been highlighted to the authorities before, especially with airlines nowadays hiring more female flight attendants.
Calling it discrimination, Nufam said it was also important to hire more physically-fit male flight attendants, for the “security and safety of passengers”.
“There is also a need to review such discrimination as one local airline is known to be operating with only female flight attendants on their flight. Why has this been allowed for such a long time?
“The union is concerned as female cabin crew can become easy targets,” Nufam said, highlighting Australian media reports on the incident on MAS flight MH128 claiming that the “disruptive passenger” had held a female flight attendant when making his threat.
“Airlines should not always depend on passengers to come to the rescue when there are problems as this will also put passengers lives at risk if something goes wrong.”
He added that it is the airlines’ responsibility to protect their passengers and crew on board their flights”.
He suggested the alternative would be to hire air marshalls on every flight for safety and security reasons.