KUALA LUMPUR: Nine years have passed, but the colleagues of those who served onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are still holding out hope that the aircraft will someday be found.
Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) chief executive officer Captain Izham Ismail said those who lost their lives in the tragedy would never be forgotten.
"We lost 13 of our dear friends onboard the flight and just like the families and friends of the other passengers, we remain hopeful that new and significant information will come to light and the aircraft will eventually be located.
"We have lost a part of our family and they will always be remembered," he said.
Hit by a double tragedy — the missing MH370 and four months later, the downing of flight MH17 — MAS (Malaysia Airline System) announced a recovery plan, which saw the airline become Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) in September 2015.
He said the brand had embarked on many improvements, particularly to ensure the safety of the aviation system, following the MH370 incident.
"The Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370, through the Safety Investigation Report, had issued safety recommendations to enhance the safety of the aviation system.
"These safety improvements were further implemented in MAB, where the airline voluntarily adopted the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) to enhance operational safety and security practices."
Some of the improvements include investments in new generation aircraft to increase passenger comfort and flight safety, and digitalising manuals and documentation to ensure all procedures and records were updated.
Flight crews were also given special attention, Izham said, with periodic deck audits to observe real time flight crew threat and error management, monitoring crews on every flight through the Flight Data Analysis Programme and better human factor support with a referral system to the Aviation Medicine Mental Health Support programme, among others.
"MAB also continues to review its operations and procedures to enhance flight safety."
Izham, who took helm of the airline on Dec 1, 2017, acknowledged the challenges of rebuilding the brand.
However, he believed the airline had made considerable strides in demonstrating its safety record through the five years of IOSA accreditation and its own internal initiatives to raise the safety bar.
"Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our passengers, staff and operations.
"Our thoughts and prayers are always with the families and friends lost in the tragedy."