Malaysia Airlines Bhd plans to shift its fleet from large aircraft to smaller planes as part of a revamp after two crashes last year prompted the government to take the company private.

“Our aircraft size is too large because these aircraft were purchased when the connecting market between Europe and Australia was firmly in the hands of South-East Asian carriers,” chief executive officer Christoph Mueller said in an interview on Wednesday at parent Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s Kuala Lumpur headquarters. “We need to reinvent ourselves with regards to the fleet, not necessarily the fleet size but the aircraft size.”

It has taken the industry 10 years to have a fleet rollover, he said, citing 747-400s as an example of an aircraft replaced not with A380s or 747-800s but with smaller planes.

The carrier is in the market to sell two Airbus A380 superjumbos as it seeks to align its network with demand, the CEO said. Mueller, who joined Malaysia Airlines in March, was tasked with turning around a flag carrier that was racking up losses even before before flight MH370 disappeared in March last year and MH17 was shot down over Ukraine.

The airline has identified customer service and digital technology as key areas of focus, he said.

Malaysia Airlines has a fleet of 128 planes, including 57 B737-800s, 13 B777-200s, six A380-800s and two B747-400s. Mueller said the company is currently evaluating its 777 fleet and may consider selling its 747-400 freighters.

“Everybody knows we are a little bit cash-constrained,” Mueller said. “If we were to have a good offer to sell them and lease them back, we would certainly listen to the offer.”

Mueller said the airline has received a 98 percent response rate so far on offer letters sent June 1 to 14,000 employees, inviting them to join the new entity from Sept 1. Only 1 percent of the offers have been rejected, he added.

The company is terminating about 6,000 jobs and seeking to cut costs by 20 percent as it strives to return to profitability.

The airline amassed more than RM4.9 billion in losses since the start of 2011 and was taken private by Khazanah Nasional Bhd in a RM1.38 billion buyout last August. The sovereign wealth fund has committed to invest RM6 billion to restructure the airline.

The new company will reduce capacity and expand its more profitable domestic and regional routes in Asia Pacific, Khazanah said in March.

- Bloomberg