Not since Pan American World Airways lost four Boeing 707s in 10 months in the mid 1970s killing over 200 passengers has an airline’s reputation been so devastated by air disasters.
However, the loss of two Boeing 777s in five months with a sickening toll of 537 is far worse in an era where major air crashes are rare and media coverage instant and comprehensive.
Air travel today on major routes is incredibly safe with 100,000 flights a day carrying 8.3 million passengers. You have more change of being struck by lightning than being killed in an air crash. But those reassuring numbers are meaningless for travellers contemplating a trip.
Malaysia Airlines has been in the news every day since MH370 disappeared on March 8 in the most bizarre mystery of modern times.
Sickeningly, only the loss of MH17 to an apparent surface-to-air missile has pushed the earlier disappearance into the background.
Clearly the two are almost certainly unrelated but that will make little difference to intending passengers.
Incredibly 70 per cent of passengers have some level of fear of flying so two air crashes in five months is too much for most to overlook no matter what the airfare.
Passengers will understandably ask, what can possibly go wrong next?
Compounding that feeling has been the handling of MH370 with Malaysian government authorities making conflicting and contradictory statements that have sent all the wrong messages about the airline and Malaysia itself.
China has been a strident critic of the dissemination of information about MH370 by the Malaysian Government.
In fact only pressure from the media forced the government to provide to make public the interim report on MH370. Even then it was found wanting.
It has been left to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, appointed by the Malaysians to lead the investigation, to fill in the gaps.
Numerous media reports relating to MH370 have been at first denied then later confirmed as fact leading to a feeling of confusion, which has reflected badly on the airline and the country.
However, the loss of MH370 would challenge most nations and not since 1972, when a flight was lost in the South American Andes for 72 days, has a commercial passenger aircraft disappeared.
In today’s instant communication era with Google Earth and find my phone apps most find it incomprehensible that an aircraft could be lost for over five months.
Conspiracy theories have flourished and these all tear at the heart of brand Malaysia Airlines a brand that travellers have grown to admire.
The airline was the first to introduce the Boeing 777-200ER, an aircraft that today, with the 777-300ER and -200LR is the backbone of the world’s international long haul fleets.
Its first, 9M-MRA, dubbed the Super Ranger set a then world distance record flying from Seattle to Kuala Lumpur and back to Seattle.
The flight also established a world speed record of flying around the world in 41 hours and 59 minutes.
Malaysia Airlines itself is an excellent operation with a fleet of almost 100 of the latest aircraft operating an extensive network throughout Malaysia and beyond.
The airline ticks all the key safety boxes having passed the International Air Transport Association comprehensive safety audit.
Malaysia the country also passes most of the International Civil Aviation Organization oversight audits, although it is well below compliance on its air crash investigation unit.
That shortfall was exposed when MH370 was lost and the government’s aviation authority struggled to come to grips with what had happened.
But the airline’s operational side has always been impressive.
One very important safety aspect is cockpit harmony and an atmosphere and culture that promote junior pilots to speak up if they see something wrong.
Prior to 9/11, I spent many hours in the cockpits of Malaysia Airlines aircraft and was impressed by the camaraderie and professionalism of its pilots. There was always a positive atmosphere.
Before the loss of MH370, the airline had enjoyed a fatality free jet record since 1977 when a hijacker took over a 737 and apparently crashed the aircraft killing 100.
It has won awards for its maintenance from Boeing, Fokker and Airbus and its Crew Resource Management program is a model that many airlines in Asia followed.
But the bad news is not going to go away and may get worse.
MH17 and particularly MH370 will remain in the news for months and possibly years.
When the search resumes for MH370 late in August attention will again focus off Perth and once the aircraft is found there will be a massive influx of international media.
One producer from CNN told AirlineRatings.com that when the first images emerge of MH370, the media interest will be as great as the Olympics.
For Malaysia Airlines there is going to be no respite from the bad publicity and thus passenger numbers will plummet further.
Put simply – if it wasn’t a government owned airline it would collapse.
