Christoph Mueller (CEO) Of MH To Step Down In Sept

webuser · Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:39 am

This is just in.

Christoph Mueller current CEO of Malaysia Airlines berhad, previously from Aer Lingus, will be stepping down in September this year.

"The Board has acknowledged Mr Mueller’s plan to leave ahead of time, which is due to his changing personal circumstances, and has commenced a search for a new CEO, which will encompass both internal and external potential candidates,"

I wonder what is the personal circumstance mentioned.

Was hoping that he would make a big difference with Malaysia Airlines.. but sad to see it being cut short.. although it looks like he will still be involved, just not as active.

"Following this, he has expressed his intention to the MAB Board of Directors (BOD) to remain with the airline as Non-Executive Director."

Source: http://english.astroawani.com/busine...bids-farewell-mab-september-103045

TheFlyingDisk · Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:46 am

I'm hoping the change in his personal circumstance is actually that - a change in his personal circumstance.

If he was pushed out, I will never forgive the ones who shoved him.

BestWestern · Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:51 am

Very disappointed with this move. As we have discussed previously, this is a very political company and most probably he couldn't do what he wanted to turn the company around.

OA260 · Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:54 am

I wondered how long he would last. Seems they were not really that interested in turning the company around ! Shame...

mercure1 · Tue Apr 19, 2016 1:23 pm

Interesting. If he was pushed out that would be a very disappointing news.

I do wonder what the status of the overhaul is? Remember there was to be some form of rebranding in December. Its now April and nothing. Seems many things have stalled.

MAS To Keep Name; But New Brand Starting December (by LAXintl Oct 1 2015 in Civil Aviation)

enilria · Tue Apr 19, 2016 1:26 pm

Quoting webuser (Thread starter):
"The Board has acknowledged Mr Mueller’s plan to leave ahead of time, which is due to his changing personal circumstances, and has commenced a search for a new CEO, which will encompass both internal and external potential candidates,"

I think it was just an excellent time to leave. He stopped the ship from sinking. Threw a new coat of paint on things. He probably feels the next phase is much harder and was looking to cash out and stepping stone it up the ladder somewhere else.

Quoting TheFlyingDisk (Reply 1):
I'm hoping the change in his personal circumstance

AKA other job offer?

IrishAyes · Tue Apr 19, 2016 3:29 pm

Quoting TheFlyingDisk (Reply 1):

I'm hoping the change in his personal circumstance is actually that - a change in his personal circumstance.

If he was pushed out, I will never forgive the ones who shoved him.

Same here. I am still appalled by the racist comments that were made when some of the Malaysians expressed outrage that a, "white man" was taking over the CEO position.

Just awful. If it did come down to that, and attitudes weren't softening, well, I don't blame him for wanting to leave. You can't change stupid.

justplanes · Tue Apr 19, 2016 4:21 pm

On a slightly different/more positive note... in my 25 years of dealing with hundreds and hundreds of airlines I have to say that since I started working with Malaysia Airlines about 6 months ago these people have been nothing short of fantastic!
Wish more Asian airlines were half as great to deal with as MAS is!

9MMPQ · Tue Apr 19, 2016 5:52 pm

Looks more like with most of the dirty work now done Christoph Mueller has served his purpose. He took a lot of garbage for a lot of the things that had to be done to get MH back on track & for that he has my respect. Rumours already going around his replacement will be coming from Khazanah. Sadly makes one feel this will be a return to the political games from the past.

Right now MH is still very much in a state of flux. A lot of things are improving but there is still a lot to be done & they need to press on. So will it be make, break or back to the past ?

Quoting justplanes (Reply 7):
On a slightly different/more positive note... in my 25 years of dealing with hundreds and hundreds of airlines I have to say that since I started working with Malaysia Airlines about 6 months ago these people have been nothing short of fantastic! Wish more Asian airlines were half as great to deal with as MAS is!

I have of course no idea in what capacity you are dealing with MH but good to hear. There have always been a lot of people on the front line of daily business with a great attitude making it a very good place to be at. Fortunately that still applies to many today.

LondonCity · Tue Apr 19, 2016 6:21 pm

Quoting 9MMPQ (Reply 8):
So will it be make, break or back to the past ?

One hopes so. But not serving alcoholic drinks on regional flights of under 3 hours will not endear the airline to the lucrative business class passenger. And what will the high fare business traveller think when he finds it's a 747 operating his/her KUL-LHR flight and not an A380 ?

KaiTak747 · Tue Apr 19, 2016 7:04 pm

Quoting LondonCity (Reply 9):
And what will the high fare business traveller think when he finds it's a 747 operating his/her KUL-LHR flight and not an A380 ?

The 747 will only sub for the A380 on an ad hoc basis, I would imagine hardly ever. And the hard products are not too different I believe.

Quoting LondonCity (Reply 9):
But not serving alcoholic drinks on regional flights of under 3 hours

Even in J?

Flaps · Tue Apr 19, 2016 7:17 pm

Quoting LondonCity (Reply 9):
One hopes so. But not serving alcoholic drinks on regional flights of under 3 hours will not endear the airline to the lucrative business class passenger. And what will the high fare business traveller think when he finds it's a 747 operating his/her KUL-LHR flight and not an A380 ?

Hard to anticipate really. I for one could care less about either one. Not all lucrative frequent business travelers fall into that same mold. While those that do may be the stereotypical image that we think of first, they can also simply be the visible tip of the iceberg. Reliability and scheduling carry a great amount of weight in business travel. Quite often more so than things like alcohol and aircraft type.

UA444 · Tue Apr 19, 2016 7:19 pm

If they don't have a replacement lined up, and he's leaving in 5 months, he's probably leaving on his own terms and hasn't been pushed out. If he left tomorrow that's Being pushed out.

9MMPQ · Tue Apr 19, 2016 8:14 pm

Quoting LondonCity (Reply 9):
But not serving alcoholic drinks on regional flights of under 3 hours will not endear the airline to the lucrative business class passenger. And what will the high fare business traveller think when he finds it's a 747 operating his/her KUL-LHR flight and not an A380 ?

Just to name a few of the things .. in some areas MH can be seen to make geat strides while in others they still appear to be bogged down in the past. Hence the need to press on, whether they can find another such capable CEO is questionable.

Quoting KaiTak747 (Reply 10):
The 747 will only sub for the A380 on an ad hoc basis, I would imagine hardly ever. And the hard products are not too different I believe.

Hard product on the 747 has not been upgraded to the A380/A330 standard. Similar situation during the previous 747 re-activation. While i like some nostalgia it's not going to fly with everyone for a 13 hour or so flight.

Quoting UA444 (Reply 12):
If they don't have a replacement lined up, and he's leaving in 5 months, he's probably leaving on his own terms and hasn't been pushed out. If he left tomorrow that's Being pushed out.

Actually the same has happened with previous CEO's & the months that Mueller will stay on will give MH plenty of time to name a successor, this has been done before. If that successor will be suitable is a whole other discussion. At this level of management nobody walks out the next day, it would have to get real messy for it to come that far. Certainly for a man like Mueller who showed a lot of engagement with MH this news has been very surprising.

LondonCity · Tue Apr 19, 2016 8:26 pm

Quoting KaiTak747 (Reply 10):
Even in J?

Yes. As far as I know.

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