The frequent delay of MAS and AirAsia flights has irked many travellers, both foreign tourists and locals.

Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy had reportedly tried his best to resolve the problem with the two carriers but this did not satisfy Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.

Today, Lim warned Chan that he risked being given a RM10-salary cut motion in the budget meeting of Parliament for being slow and late in resolving the issue.

The salary cut motion is a parliamentary device to censure a minister for failure, incompetence or negligence in executing duties and even if it is not passed, it stands as a black mark in the minister's record.

Recently, MAS and budget airline Air Asia were told by the minister to take immediate measures to cut the number of flight delays that had been plaguing both airlines over the last three months.

However, both airlines have shirked responsibility by offering their own explanations.

MAS managing director/CEO Idris Jala cited the delays to "circumstances beyond our control" while AirAsia's chief executive Tony Fernandes was quoted in local dailies as saying that "the government should improve air traffic control system and add more runways to reduce delays".

Reveal statistics

The opposition leader said "this only shows that the management of the two airlines are suffering from a denial syndrome with regard to public dissatisfaction and discontent about their services."

Lim also said in his statement today that Chan should now be able to release statistics pertaining to delayed MAS flights to Parliament for the past two months.

The DAP veteran then moved on to criticise MAS for abusing taxpayers money citing the recent RM850 million government funding for MAS mutual separation scheme (MSS).

"(MAS) should justify the recent RM495.5 million MASS exercise creating 141 'half millionaires' with 23 employees given 'golden handshakes' from RM600,000 to RM700,000 each," he said.

"I have been told that under the MSS payout, successful MAS employees get three or more times the payment of what would have been entitled to if they had stayed on and complete their services with the national airline," he added.

He later added that MAS must prove their accountability, transparency and integrity in the MSS pay-outs because the RM495.5 million from public funds is meant to cut costs for MAS and not to create scores of half-millionaires.