MAS & Rempits affected by fuel

On 15th April 2008, MAS Chairman Datuk Dr Munir Majid said MAS has hedge some 40% of its 2008 fuel requirements at US$89 a barrel.

Dr Munir also said MAS had also entered into some hedging contracts at US$95 per barrel for 2009 fuel requirements.

At that time the crude oil price was at US$112 a barrel.

Today, it is reported that MAS has raised its fuel surcharges on international travel by as much as 80 per cent with effect from June 27 to offset record jet fuel prices.

The national carrier said in a statement it is raising its one-way fuel surcharge on short-haul flights (under three hours) by 25 per cent to 67 per cent and medium-haul flights (up to six hours) by 28 per cent to 50 per cent.

For instance, fuel surcharge on the Kuala Lumpur-Sydney flight will rise from RM422 to RM608 each way. The fuel surcharge on one-way tickets from London to Sydney via Kuala Lumpur has increased by 46 per cent from RM773 to RM1,131.

In an open letter to the general public yesterday, MAS managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala said it has no choice but to pass on the cost of fuel to consumers.

Jet fuel price has increased by 80 per cent since last year from an average of US$90 (RM293) per barrel to US$166 (RM541) per barrel.

"Put bluntly, if these adjustments don't take place - and quickly - the airline industry will collapse and have a ripple effect throughout the entire world economy," Idris jala said.

How is it that MAS which had hedge it's fuel at US$89 a barrel for 2008 and at US$95 a barrel for 2009 is affected by the rising fuel prices? Is this opportunism or is it to help MAS & Idris Jala to boost its profit margin for the year 2008 so as to prove that the MAS turnaround management had done a great job?

Malaysian Boleh-type of managers do depend greatly on such methods to derive profit to boost the corporations bottom-line and to show that they are great managers.

Maybe, Proton, TNB, Telekom, Khazanah and all the other GLCs can also make their profit reports better by taxing the people by another 200%; if not 400%.

Mat Rempit affected by fuel hikes

The government can use the good reason that the current fuel price increase of 78sens have effectively reduce the number of Mat Rempits.

Umno Putera had being applying all kinds of methods and ways to rebuilt the image of the Mat Rempits but the result of their affirmative actions were miserable and failed miserably.

However, the fuel hike appears to be excellently effective.

Maybe, the govt could consider eradicating the Mat Rempits by a further increase of another RM1 a litre and make it RM3.70 a litre.

Read the Rempit story here.