Malaysia Airlines considers name change after flight MH17 and MH370 plane disasters
Beleaguered carrier Malaysia Airlines could change its name as part of its reinvention after suffering two plane disasters within months of each other.
Hugh Dunleavy, the airline’s commercial director, writing in the Sunday Telegraph said: "Our majority shareholder, the Malaysian government, has already started a process of assessing the future shape of our business and that process will now be speeded up as a result of MH17. There are several options on the table but all involve creating an airline fit for purpose in what is a new era for us, and other airlines.”
The Telegraph reports that this reshaping could involve a change of name and additional outside investment to help rebuild the business after the tragedies.
Dunleavy also called for a new global safety body to be set up to approve routes over potentially dangerous countries, rather than airlines shouldering the responsibility themselves or relying on existing bodies. “MH17 has shown us that airlines can no longer rely on existing industry bodies for this information,” he said.
“Individual airlines should not be arriving at decisions – independently of one another – to determine whether the skies above these volatile regions are safe. How can airlines be expected to know what is happening on the ground when evidently in some cases neither do governments?”
Flight MH17 was shot down over the Ukraine just four months after flight MH370 disappeared after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing and has never been found.