KUALA LUMPUR: MYAirline Sdn Bhd, Malaysia's second budget airline, has confirmed the resignation of Rayner Teo as its chief executive officer (CEO) and appointed its chief operating officer, Stuart Cross as interim CEO.
The airline said Rayner had decided to depart due to health considerations.
He was at the helm of the budget carrier since its inception in November 2020.
"During his tenure, MYAirline has achieved remarkable growth and success, becoming a prominent player in the commercial aviation industry.""We (MYAirline's board of directors) extend our deepest gratitude to Rayner for his outstanding contributions and unwavering dedication to MYAirline. We wholeheartedly support Rayner's decision to prioritise his health and well-being," MYAirline said in a statement today.
The airline also said that a new CEO will be appointed in due course.
However, Business Times has learnt that there have been a number of resignations in MYAirline in the past few months including the departure of its chief financial officer and chief commercial officer.
Sources said a heated town hall session happened last Friday which then saw Rayner tendered his resignation.
It was unclear if he resigned during the town hall session or after.
MYAirline is also believed to not pay its services providers and employees' salaries on time.
The payments were said to be often delayed. The carrier's ambition to introduce new destinations by year-end to Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam has yet to materialise.
No announcements on new destinations were made as at time of writing.
For its winter schedule, it had reduced its four times daily flight to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang International Airport from Kuala Lumpur to once daily to Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang International Airport. Checks on MYAirline website has also revealed that the carrier does not offer Sibu as one of its destinations anymore and according to industry insiders, its last Miri flight from Kuala Lumpur is today (Oct 9).
"They (MYAirline) have reduced several (flight) frequencies to the remaining domestic destinations.
Their schedule would be down to what can be operated with five aircraft instead of nine," a source said.
Two weeks ago, MYAirline announced the arrival of its 9th aircraft, an Airbus A320 with the registration 9M-DAN.
However, MYAirline said in the statement that it has to proactively consolidate certain routes as the carrier transitions from its first summer to winter flight schedules.
"This decision has been made in full transparency to ensure the best possible experience for our passengers.""The situation has been further compounded by the delayed delivery of some aircraft that were originally scheduled to be operational by now," the airline said.
Commercial airlines have two schedules that they follow – the summer schedule (from March to October) and winter schedule (from October to March). Rayner had said in June this year that MYAirline plans to operate 20 Airbus A320 aircraft by end-2023 and list the company on the stock exchange, by 2026.
He said then that they are finalising strategic partnerships as part of its future growth plans, with details on the collaboration to be shared in the future.