Tee Keat to meet 'warring' airline chiefs

PUTRAJAYA: Enter Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat, the peacemaker in the war between AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines, which recently took on a personal note between its chiefs.

Ong said he would speak to MAS managing director Datuk Seri Idris Jala and AirAsia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes about their public exchanges on their price war, and now, MAS' termination of Fernandes' flight privileges.

"We are all adults. I want to see competition taking place in a healthy manner on a level playing field and devoid of acrimony.

"I will call both sides. But what I will say to them is strictly private," he said when asked what advice he would pass to the two airline chiefs.

Ong said the ministry had no intention of interfering in the pricing of air tickets.
"It has never been our policy to interfere in the air services market, even if both parties are offering 'zero fares'."

AirAsia had long complained of unfair competition with MAS, a government-linked company, but their war of words heated up recently when MAS began offering zero-fare seats.

The budget airline boss claimed MAS, a full-service carrier, was using its subsidies to finance its low-fare and free seats campaign, an allegation which Idris has denied.

Other issues fought in the open include AirAsia's push to resume operations from Subang airport and its demand for more flights on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route.

The spotlight is now on a letter from Idris to Fernandes, sent late last month, which was leaked to the media.

In it, Idris said the MAS management team had decided to withdraw Fernandes' flying privileges following objections from MAS employees to Fernandes' negative comments in the media.

The privileges include a 50 per cent discount on first/business class and 75 per cent for economy class.

It is a common practice in the airline industry between chief executive officers.

AirAsia's similar offer to Idris remains in place.

NST Online