KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 10): Joining the Public Accounts Committee, opposition lawmakers and some aviation analysts, AirAsia Bhd’s group executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is of the view that the Malaysian Aviation Commission should be headed by an independent party.

“Malaysia has a chance to be an aviation hub, it is very important that the aviation commission puts Malaysians first, not AirAsia (fundamental: 0.2; valuation: 0.8), not Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (MAS), not Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).

“Number one, it has to be helmed by an independent person. If he’s not independent then there is no credibility,” said Fernandes.

He added that the proposed regulatory body is a great idea as it is something the aviation industry had pushed for for quite some time as it will show that Malaysia has credibility in the international aviation space.

It also promotes job opportunities.

When asked if he would take on the role of the executive chairman of the Malaysian Aviation Commission if he was offered the opportunity, Fernandes said: “If you put me as head of the aviation commission I would obviously be bias towards AirAsia, right?”

He said the proposed regulatory body should not be helmed by anyone from the aviation industry.

Quoting sources, The Edge Financial Daily had reported on April 8 that Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majib was tipped to be the first executive chairman of the Malaysian Aviation Commission.

He is currently the adviser to MAHB (fundamental: 1.15; valuation: 1.40) and was recently appointed chairman of the Corporate Development Centre, which is tasked to provide avenues and opportunities for the outplacement and reskilling of MAS staff not transitioning to Malaysia Airlines Bhd (NewCo) under Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s restructuring of the national carrier.  

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)