Storm yet to ease for MYAirline staff
While MYAirline continues its search for a new investor, its employees are faced with the challenge of making ends meet without any income. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: It has been a bleak seven months for employees of MYAirline Sdn Bhd.
The carrier, which abruptly suspended operations on Oct 12, last year, has failed to pay salaries to its staff despite promises made earlier.
Employees who spoke to FMT on condition of anonymity said they continue to receive salary slips containing statutory deductions.
However, they said, checks with the Employees Provident Fund, Social Security Organisation and the Inland Revenue Board revealed that none of the deductions have been remitted to the respective statutory bodies.
When contacted by FMT, MYAirline spokesman Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the company is in the midst of “sorting out all the issues internally”. He, however, declined to comment further.
The carrier’s staff also claimed they have been promised payment of their outstanding salaries. However, they said they have yet to receive any part of the wages owed to them since it suspended operations.
One of the employees, who wished to be known as Y, said he was unsure of his position, despite having been told he will remain a MYAirline employee. This was because some staff members have received letters stating that they will no longer be on the company’s payroll beginning May 1.
Y said employees have been left in the dark ever since the airline suspended its operations. There has been no update as to when their salaries will be paid, he added.
Another employee, Z, told FMT most of the staff have chosen to stay with MYAirline because prospects of getting another job in the aviation industry are dim.
“Other airlines are unwilling to offer us the same wages that we get at MYAirline,” he said.
This, he added, has left employees in a difficult position. He pointed out that many are now in financial straits with no prospects of getting another job elsewhere.
“Even if there is a job offer, it is more likely to be a junior position that comes with half the salary that we have been receiving at MYAirline,” Z said.
He said his savings have since been depleted, forcing him to sell one of the houses he owned.
Z also said he is also unable to send his son for further studies as all his assets have been liquidated to cover monthly expenses for his family.
Another employee, who wants to be known as M, said he has moved into his parents’ home after using up all his savings since the suspension.
He said some of his colleagues are even worse off. “Their cars have been repossessed because they are unable to pay the monthly instalments on their car loans,” he said.
Some have even been evicted from their homes for failing to pay the rent over several months.
MYAirline cited “severe financial challenges” for the abrupt suspension of operations on Oct 12, last year, just 11 months after taking off on its maiden flight.
In January Bernama, quoting sources, reported that MYAirline had secured and signed a sale and purchase agreement with an investor from the Middle East in late December last year.
However, transport minister Loke Siew Fook announced a month later that the prospective investor had pulled out of the deal.
In March, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress urged MYAirline to prioritise the payment of salary arrears rather than wait for new investors.
Last Friday, Azharuddin said that MYAirline was still in talks with several interested investors and hoped to conclude an agreement soon.