The union’s censure came after the airline’s group managing director and CEO Peter Bellew announced his resignation to return to his previous employer Ryanair.
Bellew’s decision was first revealed via a statement issued to the press by Ryanair, Ireland’s low-cost carrier.
“Why do we have to read it from the foreign media? Because our own media is not given access to any kind of information,” Nufam president Ismail Nasaruddin said at a press conference at the union’s office at Empire Tower here today.
“Ryanair issued a statement. Why didn’t Khazanah issue one? Don’t tell me it didn’t know.”
He said it was “impossible” that no one was informed of Bellew’s intention to leave the airline because Nufam had already received word about it months ago.
“A couple of months ago our representatives in the United Kingdom told us to ‘watch out, Peter Bellew might be leaving’.
“I said it was better to wait and see what Bellew does before coming to any conclusion and now sure enough he tells us he’s leaving. The fact that he’s suddenly leaving means that something is not right.”
He claimed Bellew was bailing out as he was aware that Khazanah was “running Malaysia Airlines into the ground”.
“It appears Peter Bellew knew exactly what he was going to do. It’s only the transport minister and we Malaysians who are always the last to know.”
Recently, transport minister Liow Tiong Lai said Bellew’s intention to leave the airlines was a surprise.
Ismail said purchasing aircraft right before his departure would certainly bring about problems in the near future.
“Spending on new planes like nobody’s business is akin to committing suicide for the airline. We don’t have the money for all this.”
Bellew took over as CEO from Christoph Mueller, who left the airline in September 2016. He was brought in by Mueller as part of the Malaysia Airlines management team on Sept 1, 2015 as chief operations officer.
Bellew’s decision apparently took the Malaysia Airlines board by surprise, which it called “unexpected”.
Malaysia Airlines noted that Bellew had publicly “expressed his commitment to Malaysia Airlines” at a press conference with Malaysian and international media on Sept 27 when asked on speculation that he would re-join Ryanair.
“He said that he was happy to be in Malaysia and that the turnaround of Malaysia Airlines would be ‘the greatest achievement of my life’,” the Malaysian carrier added.
Addressing the question of why he was leaving after such a brief period, Bellew said: “Negaraku (my country). Love for country is pulling me back to Ireland.
“I got a call from Ryanair late evening two weeks ago to be COO (chief operations officer). It is Ireland’s greatest company. “They need my help and there is a big challenge. It is a form of national service.
“When I was asked on 27th Sept would I go to Ryanair I said no. But a week later the call came and in life we can really never say never. I am looking forward to being close again to my family and friends 14 hours away in Ireland,” he said.