updated version

Pelangi Airways today cancelled two flights as there was no flight crew for them, making it the fourth such disruption in the past week.

Forty-one passengers who had booked the 9am flight to Pekan Baru, Sumatra, were told of the last-minute cancellation while they were waiting to depart from the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang.

Also cancelled was the evening flight from Subang to Padang, Sumatra, which had nine passengers.

According to the airline's airport manager Victor Davidson, the morning flight had to be cancelled when the airline's flight operations department informed him that there was not enough flight crew to fly the aircraft.

"There must be a minimum of two pilots, two cabin crew and one aircraft engineer before the aircraft can be allowed to take off," he explained.

The co-pilot and one of the cabin crew called in sick today and the standby crew could not be contacted, said Davidson.

Just last Saturday, 60 passengers were stranded at the airport after two Pelangi Airways flights were cancelled when some flight crew went on "emergency and sick leave".

A disappointed customer, Hassan Salim, had wanted to accompany his sick relative back to Pekan Baru.

He said he was told that some of the employees were on 'strike'.

"If this is the case, Pelangi may as well close down its operation," he said.

'Silent strike'

It was reported that some of the airline's employees are on a 'silent strike', which the management denied.

However, many of Pelangi's employees expressed their dissatisfaction with the delay in the disbursement of their salary and allowance.

One of the employees, flight operations officer Shahrizal Zainal Abidin, told journalists that more than 100 staff could be involved in the 'silent strike'. The airline has between 200 and 300 employees.

In a company circular dated Sept 11, Pelangi promised its staff that it will settle part of last month's salaries as well as the allowances and overtime claims for June.

Besides the delay in payment of salaries, the airline has not given any salary increment to its employees and deducted 10 percent from their allowances since June last year to "help the company", Shahrizal said.

"The company did not care for the welfare of the employees," he lamented.

Most of the airline staff met by journalists said they wanted their full salaries, allowances and overtime paid to them.

Financial crisis

Pelangi's management had admitted to malaysiakini that the airline is facing a financial crisis.

General manager for business development, Tengku Mohd Affandi Tengku Abdullah, explained that the US dollar appreciation (from RM2.50 to RM3.80 per US dollar) and the hike in oil prices have increased the operating cost of the company.

He said the company has to pay for the aircrafts' maintenance, spare parts and fuel in US dollars.

"Unlike Malaysia Airlines which is backed by the government, private airlines like Pelangi have to find their own solutions," he said.

It was reported in Berita Harian that the company's biggest shareholder is Yayasan Islam Terengganu, with a 31 percent stake.

Other shareholders are Naluri Berhad (20.65 percent), Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (20.44 per cent), Mambang Di Awan Sdn Bhd (8.23 percent), Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Perak (6.95 per cent), Syarikat Kemajuan Negeri Melaka (6.07 percent) and TDM Bhd (6.07 percent).