Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will be moving engineers from Subang to KLIA in their efforts to reduce flight delays. New flight schedules coming into effect August 13 will also be introduced.

MAS managing director and chief executive officer Idris Jala also announced in a statement today that steps will be taken to ensure cooperation with relevant regulatory authorities and Malaysia Airport Berhad (MAB) in order to reduce aircraft queues for take-off and landing at KLIA.

Approval for the activation of a long term parking B747-400 aircraft, to be used as standby, has also been received from MAB. A Boeing 737 is currently kept as a spare in case planes are grounded.

This move comes in response to the recent outcry regarding MAS' flight disruption problems and its poor On-Time Performance (OTP) record.

"The management team and I are totally focused on improving our OTP," said Idris.

The OTP of MAS was as low as 43% on July 11, with Idris citing technical issues and bad weather as the main reasons for the airline's poor performance. He also said there were teething problems associated with the introduction of the new passenger service system (PSS) at KLIA.

80% of the delays were airline-related, with the remaining 20% attributed to other factors such as the weather, runway closure and airport issues.

Of this 80%, 12% were due to engineering and mechanical problems, 6% due to refueling and handling, and 8% due to PSS problems. The remaining 56% was consequential.

The additional engineers at KLIA will enable faster in-situ aircraft repairs, thus reducing aircraft downtime.

Only speculation, says Idris

MAS productivity fell after widespread disappointment in the management's allocation of performance bonuses, share options and a recently implemented special payment, several employees were reported as saying in the media.

Airport and ground staff in particular also complained of longer working hours due to staff shortages since MAS let 20,000 employees go last year. MAS is due to let another 4,000 workers go this year.

However, Idris dismissed the idea of staff dissatisfaction causing delays as "speculation".

Senator Tajulurus Mohd Zain caused some controversy recently when he called for the resignation of Idris, claiming that MAS was "fast losing its credibility and its services were regressing from bad to worse".

Several ministers were affected by flight delays, including Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy, Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn and Deputy Education Minister Hon Choon Kim and Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin.

However, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quick to come to Idris' defence, calling him a "good manager" who "can manage (the problems faced by MAS)".

Chan also expressed his satisfaction with MAS' handling of the issue, noting that OTP had increased to 75% since the implementation of corrective measures.

"We are fully aware that the public is concerned with this and we are keeping a close watch and working closely with the airlines and other related authorities to make sure that the on-time performance will be back to normal," he said following a visit to the MAS operating center at KLIA.

MAS recently won the World's Best Cabin Staff award, an internationally recognised award based on an international survey conducted by Skytrax.