Malaysia Airlines Celebrates its 41st Anniversary

Kelana Jaya, 8 October 2013: Malaysia Airlines has been operating flights from Kuala Lumpur to over 100 destinations as Malaysian Airlines System Berhad since  1 October 1972 and to mark its 41^st anniversary of Malaysian Hospitality this year, the national airline has outlined a month-long full of activities.

To commemorate the celebration, the national carrier treated its staff to a special screening of ‘Tanda Putera’ at Malaysia Airlines Academy, Kelana Jaya. Besides that, the airline also presented the iCAN Lifetime Award to the Malaysia Airlines team that scaled the challenging Himalayas and made it to base camp, at 17,600 ft, on 18 September 2013.

Speaking at the event, Malaysia Airlines’ Group Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said, “We have achieved so much in the past one year since we celebrated 40 years of being Malaysia Airlines and delivering 'Malaysian Hospitality' across our network.

“We are known globally for this exclusivity, and we pay tribute of this success to the thousands of Malaysia Airlines employees, who over the years and till today have worked together to demonstrate Malaysian Hospitality,” he added.

“Our journey began in 1972 when our airline's name became MAS and the challenge was set to elevate our Nation's name around the world and bring pride to all our countrymen and women.  Today, Malaysia Airlines celebrates its 41^st anniversary. In the world of aviation, being in business for this length of time is a milestone, a major achievement,” said Ahmad Jauhari.

“We wanted to screen Tanda Putera to our staff because it contains a lot of historical content which is with relations to Malaysia Airlines. It will bring fond memories to our senior staff and act as a motivational boost for the junior ones.

The airline has built itself a strong brand name in the aviation industry for superior service and flight safety since 1 October 1972. It holds a lengthy record of service and best practices excellence, receiving more than 100 awards in the last 10 years from international bodies such as the UK based independent research consultancy firm, Skytrax.

In February 2013, Malaysia Airlines became a member of oneworld. This membership strategically places Malaysia Airlines firmly on the global aviation map as we are recognized by 11 of the biggest and best names in the global airline industry to be their gateway to South East Asia.

Malaysia Airlines marked the entry of its first A380 into the airline’s fleet by having its 5-Star Airline status renewed by Skytrax. The recognition comes at a time of great change within the national airline of Malaysia as it embarks on a series of improvements to repositioning it as a premium carrier.

The national carrier has also put into commercial service all six of its A380 aircraft to serve London, Paris and Hong Kong sectors and will welcome several new aircrafts into its current fleet of A380s, A330-300s, B737-800s and A330-200s.

This promises guests a better experience on Malaysia Airlines, as it aims to have one of the youngest fleet of less than 6 years in the region.

Mid this year, the airline also launched its first major brand campaign that leverages in delivering “Malaysian Hospitality” positioning it as “Journeys are made by the people you travel with”.

The worldwide brand campaign named ‘Journeys’, covers markets across Malaysia and ASEAN, Britain, Europe and China.

To celebrate its 41^st Anniversary, Malaysia Airlines will be organizing a series of staff engagement activities for one month including a Hazard Hunt where staff will be able to volunteer to audit and report on potentially harmful work environment, dinner session with staff and promote its iCAN campaign where staff will be encouraged to share their every day extraordinary stories.

Besides that, MH Rocks was also introduced to strengthen customer orientation amongst front liners. Coined as MH ROCKS, an acronym for Reaching Out to Customer and Kakitangan Sentiasa whereby Management Committee members and heads from various Business units  will go down to the field or ‘turun padang’ to lend support to our front-liners’ as well as to gain better understanding of their daily functions at the various customer touch points.

-Malaysia Airlines.