Bellew rejoining Ryanair for ‘love of country’
MALAYSIA Airlines Bhd CEO Peter Bellew says his return to the Irish airline is a matter of ‘national service’. ‘They need my help and there is a big challenge.'
KUALA LUMPUR: Speculation has begun on the possible front-runners to helm Malaysia Airlines Bhd following the departure of Peter Bellew.
Sources said former Telekom Malaysia Bhd group chief executive officer and managing director Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, who left the telco in April, was a possible candidate.
As a non-executive director of MAB (he was appointed to the board on May 18), Zamzamzairani might be asked to step in as acting CEO before a new leader was found, said a source.
Zamzamzairani, 56, is also a director
of Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd and chairman of UEM Sunrise Bhd.
Zam, as he is affectionately known, is widely credited with transforming TM into a multi-billion-ringgit telco giant.
Another candidate is Malaysia Airlines chief financial officer Omar Siddiq Amin Noer Rashid, who held the post since last year.
He was an executive director in the investments division of Khazanah Nasional Bhd. He is also a director of Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd.
Prior to that, he was a managing director in the investment banking division at CIMB Investment Bank Bhd until 2015.
Omar Siddiq had also served in PricewaterhouseCoopers, where his last position in 2005 was as an executive director in the corporate finance division, having joined the firm in London in 1996 before moving here in 2001.
Sources also mentioned that Malaysia Airlines chief operating officer Captain Izham Ismail, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the aviation industry and a stint as MASwings CEO.
Izham had also served in various management roles, including head of operations (Programme Management Office), executive vice-president of flight operations and general manager for technical and development.