KUALA LUMPURI, Nov 25 — Financially troubled local carrier MYAirline Sdn Bhd has agreed to pay RM4.3 million worth in unpaid salaries to its 158 employees starting January next year after it secured new investors.
Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor said the agreement was achieved after an order was issued by the Labour Department, news portal Free Malaysia Today reported last night.
“We received information from the labour office confirming that MYAirline has consented to disburse the salaries in accordance with the sums specified in the employees’ salary slips,” he was quoted as saying.
However, Kamarul said MTUC remained sceptical about MYAirline’s ability to pay up five months of salaries as promised, citing the carrier’s past failure to disburse salaries for the months of September and October.
Kamarul added that MTUC regarded such a situation as “unacceptable” because, regardless of the involvement of the new investors, it remained the company’s responsibility to remunerate its employees promptly.
“Waiting for investors is not an acceptable course of action,” he was quoted as saying.
On October 12, MYAirline announced the sudden and indefinite suspension of its flight operations due to financial issues.
Past news reports pointed that the budget carrier was struggling financially as payments to its service providers were delayed and employees’ salaries were not paid on time.
Following that, on October 31, a group of around 15 MYAirline employees lodged a police report, citing unpaid salaries as the primary issue.
Kamarul, who accompanied the employees, expressed strong disapproval of MYAirline’s unprofessional conduct and called on the government to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the company’s affairs.
The Malaysian Aviation Commission then suspended MYAirline’s air service licence on November 1.
MYAirline was reported by several news agencies on November 6 to have lost its entire fleet of 10 Airbus planes, adding to doubt that it can restart operations within a foreseeable future even though it remains registered with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia.
