Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Airlines good business?

MAS made a profit of RM242 million in the quarter ended December 2007. Not to be outdone, Air Asia reported a profit of RM246 million in the same period. One up is SIA which made S$610 million. That must make you think that airlines is a good business.

All of this happened in a period of stiff competition where some airlines were literally giving away free tickets. This is also the period where crude oil hit new highs. High demand has also pushed up the salary of pilots and other staff.

So, it makes you wonder why MAS was losing hundred of millions of dollars a year before mid 2006. MAS was virtually a monopoly in the domestic market then. Fuel prices were much cheaper then. So the problem must lie with the management. Were they utterly imcompetent or were they working for their own interest. You think about that.

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