The surprise move has airline analysts speculating on the reasons behind Mueller’s departure. He is resigning two years prior to the expiry of his three-year contract.
Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) CEO and managing director, Christoph Mueller, has resigned and will leave the company this September.
The surprise move has airline analysts speculating on the reasons behind Mueller’s departure. He is resigning two years prior to the expiry of his three-year contract.
German-born Mueller joined MAB on May 1, 2015 succeeding Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and is the first non-Malaysian to helm the national carrier.
He was tasked with the restructuring of the fledging airline and to turn it to profitability by 2018 under the 12-point MAS Recovery Plan (MRP). He had successfully restructured Ireland’s Aer Lingus – for which he earned the nickname, The Terminator, as well spearheaded a revamp of Lufthansa.
In an internal memo to his
staff Mueller said his decision to leave MAB was due to “personal reasons
that are beyond my control”, but said he would remain as a non-executive director and help to facilitate the airline’s turnaround.
Malaysia Airlines has seen the appointment of six CEOs in the last 15 years.
“We are very disappointed to lose Christoph as CEO but we fully understand his reasons and respect his need to do this,” said MAB chairman Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof in a statement.
“His hard work over the past year has seen Malaysia Airlines set on a path where there has already been encouraging progress,” he added.
MAB said that to ensure continuity and to have an orderly succession Mueller would serve a six-month notice to September 2016. It has begun its search for a new CEO, and this will include looking at both internal and external potential candidates.
In the interim the MAB board of directors has appointed chief operations officer Peter Bellew as executive director on the board with immediate effect.
Mueller is confident that the company is on the right track to succeed in its next phase of growth under a new CEO.
In a separate statement Khazanah Nasional Berhad, MAB’s sole shareholder, thanked Mueller for his “instrumental contribution” in the airline’s restructuring.
“While we would have wanted Mr Mueller to continue as planned, we also respect and ultimately agree to his decision to leave ahead of the end of his three-year contract, due to a change in his personal circumstances.”
Khazanah said the implementation of the MRP is on track and on schedule over the 20-month period since its announcement in August 2014.
“Much has been achieved over this period and Mr Mueller has contributed significantly to its progress to date.”