Could somebody print this
thread or any thread in this forum and present
to da BOSS on Sunday's meeting. Yours truly will
be working.
10 things I hate About MAS
1.Pay : The pay sucks. How come
other airlines can pay a lowly first officer
like me what a commander here gets and still
make tons of money whilst we can't? Until things
improve paywise...I'll always set my sights on
moving to another airline whenever I can. Forget
about loyalty etc. The grass at the Dubai Creek
Golf Course will always seem greener. I know for
a FACT...IT IS! Inequitable system of type pay.
Too much difference in type pay. Pay everyone
the same. Makes less of a scramble to get to the
B747. A330/B777 Crew work harder than their
conterparts on the B747 but get paid less. The
days of being paid based of the weight of the
Aircraft are over. Are you kidding me? Does it
take much more brute force to lift a 747 off the
ground compared to a A330/B777? If the argument
is based on the number of passengers carried and
the revenue generated...maybe the B737 would
have a higher type pay....they carry more
passengers in a da compared to a single B747.The
beancounters can do the sums. I for one think
that all should be paid the same. Let the pilots
decide on the equipment/lifestyle they want.
Solves the company's problem of having too many
rookies on the B737. There will be a better
spread of experience throughout all fleets.
2.FTL : No FTL. Makes me feel
ashamed to work for a Flag Carrier who has no
regard for MCAR or CAP371. Where is the
Company's responsibility to the travelling
public? Doesn't the Company feel the need to do
things right? Or is the Company's
aim only to make money? Makes a mockery of the
SVP(FO)'s foreword in the FOPM..aspiring to be
the safest etc.etc. Can't we finalise an FTL so
that crew and scheduler's are not left to grope
in the dark trying to figure out how much more a
person can fly. As it is...nothing stops me from
telling crewing that I have hit the 100 hours in
28 day limit and will not be able to fly for the
next 10 days. Crewing does'nt know my hours.
They depend on me to be truthful. What kind of
Company is this? Even a boy scout troop is run
more efficiently! Computerise
everything....makes it efficient.It could cost
more initially. The benefits outweight the cost.
Fed up of having to count my hours every other
day to make sure I do not bust the limits.
3.Roster : Lousy system of
paying crew productivity in excess of 80hours.
Productivity should be paid hourly. Not fair to
the crew who has 80 block hours/month but in 28
days could work up to 100 hours. Pay every hour.
Would make flights like KUL/MAA/KUL seem
worthwhile compared to KUL/PEN then n/stop.
Feels more equitable/fair to the crew. This
includes cabin crew too. No wonder so many of
them report sick. Rostering could be fairer and
equitable. What has happened to the block roster
system? Make sure there is variety in a month.
Short and long flights. North, South, East and
West. CAP371 limits to be adhered to. As it is,
crew are left to determine for themselves
whether rosters are legal or not. Are there
enough Days OFF? 2 days off in 14 consecutive
days? etc..
4.Staff Travel : There's got to
be a better way about this. Put it on the
internet. Crew can then look up flights which
are not so fully booked, purchase tickets on the
internet and then have the price deducted from
their pay at the end of the month. Makes travel
a lot easier. Those without computers can still
purchase at the counter.
5.Preflight : Most stressful
part of flying. Especially when ex-KUL. By far
the worst station to be departing from. Long
walk to the airplanes I can deal with. But the
other duties which are tedious. Eg. Searching
the Alternates Cluster for the relevant charts
and documentation. If all departments play their
part right, then I don't have to rush to make
sure that they have done their part. More often
than not, charts are misplaced/incomplete.
Adding stress to crew. I agree there are crew
who choose not to be stressed by this. Just
close one eye. 99% of the time, you don't divert
or you wont have an ETOPS diversion. For flight
attendants too preflight can be stressful
ex-KUL, warped service carts,meals not loaded
properly(understand catering does it for foreign
carriers). If every department does their job,
crews duty would be much easier.
6.Uniform : Lousy, poor quality
uniforms. How are we supposed to carry ourselves
internationally let alone publicly in Malaysia
in cheap uniforms. Often with trouser length
much to be desired. Peak caps of poor quality.
Lousy plastic nav bags. We look cheap and sloppy
in our uniforms. If the company wants to project
a better image it has to be willing to spend
some money first. Money well spent on QUALITY
items will last longer and look better most of
the time. There is nothing cheap and good in
this world ,only Cheap and Awful.
7.HOTAC : Lousy choice of
hotels in some stations. Leaves the public with
an unsavoury image of the crew. Again, it's up
to the company what kind of image they want of
the company. However, meal allowances must be
increased and strict enforcement of nil cooking
before we can afford to stay in good hotels.
8.Training : Insufficient
training of ground staff to handle passengers
the way flight crew handle them. Onboard the
aircraft, passengers are treated royally by the
flight attendants only to see their efforts come
to nought when handled by ground staff. Given
the runaround at terminals etc.etc. We need
quality staff, ordinary well trained people can
do the job, some with skills in other languages.
Nonchalant attitude of staff must be eradicated.
Teach the staff to be conscientious of their
actions affecting other departments within the
airline.
9.Engineering Support : I bet
our colleagues at Engineering would say they
have insufficient spares. Airplanes dispatched
with U/S entertainment modules. We spend so much
telling the passengers we have the biggest this,
you can order flowers ,cappucino etc.etc., half
the time the stuff don't work. Flight attendants
are then left to face the wrath of
passengers.How dedicated we are in solving
problems will show how dedicated we are/sincere
we are in pleasing customers. I have seen A320's
on foreign carriers with better interiors than
or B747's or A330's. All boils down to what the
company wants to project. How much are we
willing to spend on quality goods.
10.Lousy PR :We need to have a
good PR department. If necessary tell the truth
but make known your plight. Eg. the recent
London low fuel scenario....if we had a good PR
department we could have turned the tide by
highlighting the difficulty in obtaining levels
over the Bay of Bengal or something like that.
I'm sure other carrier's would have pitched in
to voice their concerns too. Have you seen a
good MAS ad on TV recently? Neither have I. 
Hope others contribute. I would recommend
that Dr.Don accesses this site often. Not to
look at what others think of him, those are just
personal attacks which I do not agree to, but to
get a feel of what the pilots morale is and
maybe get some good
suggestions/ideas.
