Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is being “stripped of its wealth” through a series of outsourcing contracts, claimed Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad.

“I have received complaint from MAS employees that there are new vendors coming in to take over tasks used to be performed by them.

NONE“They (MAS) used foreign labour from Bangladesh and Nepal to move luggage and handle cargo, while our own people are offered a voluntary separation scheme (VSS)...

“We want to know what the new CEO (Ahmad Jauhari Yahya) has in plan. Does he want to fill MAS up with contractors from Bangladesh, Nepal and others? Is that how he is planning to turnaround MAS, or what?” he asked at a press conference today.

He also questioned why oil company Petron was given a contract to supply MAS with aviation fuel instead of the national oil company Petronas, while MAS’ catering services had been outsourced although MAS catering was up to the task.

“What is the logic of a national airline buying oil from a non-national oil company? We want an explanation from Petronas and MAS,” he said of the former allegation.

He added that the catering services contract was worth RM2 billion.

Khalid (above) speculated that MAS is being “drained of its wealth” to set the stage for an AirAsia takeover and demanded MAS to disclose its turnaround plan for the loss-making national carrier.