This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 19, 2021 - July 25, 2021

THE deadline to merge the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has come and gone, with the fate of the former still up in the air. The merger was supposed to have been completed by the second quarter of this year.

When asked about the commission’s future, Mavcom chief operating officer (COO) Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin says there is still much work to do. “Given that this is a policy matter, it would be more appropriate for the relevant authority to provide input on this matter,” he tells The Edge.

“From our end, what we can assure is that Mavcom will continue to discharge our duties in serving the industry and championing consumer rights with transparency and professionalism, as we have in the past and as stipulated in the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015 [Act 771].

“Mavcom has the statutory duty and responsibility to ensure its powers and functions are carried out accordingly. We will continue to uphold our mandate and core aim, which is to ensure that the civil aviation industry in Malaysia is commercially viable, consumer-focused and resilient, in order to support the nation’s economic growth.

“Furthermore, this is a very challenging time for the aviation sector as everyone involved is battling the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that has brought the industry to its knees.”

Malaysia’s aviation authority was split into two bodies in 2016, with the establishment of Mavcom in March that year. The decision to remerge the two aviation regulators was made two years ago when the Pakatan Harapan coalition was in power. The proposed merger will see CAAM reabsorbing Mavcom’s economic and commercial functions, in addition to its own technical and safety oversight activities. CAAM declined to comment on the progress for this article.

Mavcom has seen the departure of several senior executives since the merger decision, including its executive chairman Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi and COO Azmir Zain. Raja Azmi assumed his current post in August last year.

“For the past 18 months, we have remained committed to our role and responsibilities and we continue to operate with a lean headcount of 52 staff members. Simultaneously, we are looking to further strengthen our talent through hiring and continuous training,” says Raja Azmi.

Given the challenges faced by airlines following the pandemic since February last year, Mavcom has afforded flexibility to them in resolving consumer complaints and providing refunds to consumers within 60 days, from 30 days previously. This grace period has been extended until September.

In 2020, the commission handled a total of 812 consumer complaint cases. Of these, 99.4% were resolved successfully. Apart from the 812 consumer complaints that were filed during the year, Mavcom also received 1,049 non-actionable complaints due to incomplete documentation from consumers.

“For airlines, apart from the 3,743 Covid-19 refund-related requests received, we also recorded cases pertaining to flight cancellations and rescheduling that occurred prior to Covid-19 and/or during the period when the Movement Control Order was lifted/relaxed,” says Raja Azmi.

Cognisant of the impact of the pandemic on the industry, Mavcom has temporarily eased a condition of airlines’ air traffic rights (ATR), which automatically revokes unutilised ATRs within six months from the date of their approval.

“This initiative, which took effect in June last year, works to alleviate the administrative challenges faced by airlines while allowing scheduled airlines to keep their current ATR portfolio active. As a result, no ATRs have expired since Oct 1, 2020,” says Raja Azmi.

Between January and March this year, the commission received a total of 110 ATR applications and granted approval to 103.

In addition, Mavcom facilitated the evaluation process for licence or permit renewal applications for companies that are in severe financial difficulties to ensure the continuity of their restructuring exercise. The restructuring of these companies still depends on negotiations with stakeholders, Raja Azmi notes.

The commission has also granted the renewal of the air service licence (ASL) as well as the ground handling licence of several entities for a period of 12 months. The licence renewal, however, is subject to the licence holders submitting quarterly updates to the commission on their financial results and the status of their restructuring exercise, which would include their funding plan. In the first quarter of 2021, Mavcom granted 14 licences to scheduled and non-scheduled carriers, airport operators and ground handlers.

Mavcom monitors airport standards through the Quality of Service (QoS) framework for the respective service quality elements at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and klia2.

QoS was implemented by Mavcom in 2018 to facilitate an improved airport user experience for passengers, airlines, ground handlers and other users of airports in Malaysia. The commission has implemented 20 out of the 28 service quality elements in the QoS framework to date.

“Due to the pandemic, the implementation of the remaining eight service quality elements related to queuing times, including immigration, check-in, customs and kerbside queues, had to be halted owing to the movement restrictions,” says Raja Azmi.

Still, he says, work is in progress to complete the remaining eight service quality elements at both terminals by 2022.

“As part of Phase 2 of the QoS framework, Mavcom has commenced the development phase for airports in Subang, Langkawi and Kota Kinabalu. The remaining 19 international and domestic airports will see the implementation of the QoS framework progressively between 2022 and 2025,” says Raja Azmi.

According to him, now more than ever, Mavcom is aware of the need to facilitate a strong aviation sector that is on a par with international standards. The commission has completed the design of an e-licensing system and commenced its pilot phase with various key industry players.

“This would be a first of its kind system in Malaysia for aviation licencing processes for all air licences and permits issued by the commission. This initiative will progressively transform the current manual processes. We aim to officially launch this in the fourth quarter of 2021,” says Raja Azmi.

Meanwhile, the Mavcom Act needs to be repealed to allow the commission’s functions to be transferred to CAAM, but there have not been any parliamentary sittings during the current state of emergency. There has also not been any announcements by the Perikatan Nasional-led Ministry of Transport on the proposed Mavcom-CAAM merger.

With the many challenges faced by the aviation industry amid the pandemic, it looks like the merger could take a back seat.

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