Malaysia Airlines sacks 6,000 workers

Malaysia Airlines is “technically bankrupt”, its new German CEO said Monday as the carrier slashed 6,000 jobs as part of plans to recover from deadly disasters and a long run of red ink.

Christoph Mueller made public his plans for the troubled flag carrier for the first time since the aviation turnaround specialist was brought in on May 1 to save it from collapse.

They include the thousands of job cuts — expected but made official on Monday — a trimmed route network, a revamped brand image and an overhaul of the company’s organisation and operations.

Mueller, whose job-cutting stints at Ireland’s Aer Lingus and Belgium’s Sabena earned him the nickname “The Terminator”, said Malaysia Airlines’ desperate situation made drastic action unavoidable.

“We are technically bankrupt and that decline of performance started long before the tragic events of 2014,” Mueller told reporters, referring to a pair of disasters that rocked the already loss-making airline last year.

“The restructuring process will start today with a hard reset.”