Malaysia Airlines announced Friday that the company is planning to cut 6,000 employees, about 30 percent of its total staff. The news comes as the company embarks on a $1.9 billion overhaul after experiencing two disasters with its planes — the disappearance of Flight 370 over the Indian Ocean in March and the shooting down of Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine in July. The company is also looking for a new CEO.
Analysts told The Associated Press that the staff cuts imply that Malaysia Airlines may offer fewer flights to Europe and China.
In addition to its staff cuts, Malaysia Airlines will be removed from Malaysia's stock exchange and will fall under government control. Khazanah Nasional, the state investment company with majority ownership of the airline, hopes to relist its shares on the Malaysian stock exchange by 2019.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The disasters "created a perfect storm for the restructuring to take place," Khazanah Managing Director Azman Mokhtar told AP. "We need to have a fresh start."
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
