Malaysia Airlines to cut 6,000 jobs in attempt to return to profit

Malaysia's national airline is cutting about 6,000 jobs and reviewing aircraft purchases in a bid to return to profit as chief executive Christoph Mueller declared the company "technically bankrupt".

Malaysia Airlines is kicking off a corporate revamp with a "hard reset" as it seeks to cut costs by 20 per cent and break even by 2018 after two air disasters last year, former Aer Lingus chief executive Mr Mueller said. The carrier is keeping at least 14,000 employees for the new company and will refurbish the business-class section on some planes as part of its turnaround, he said. Stiff competition led to years of losses, even before flight MH370 disappeared in March last year and MH17 was shot down over Ukraine. – (Bloomberg)