Revamp of one's head, not facilities...

My attention was drawn to a news article in Singapore's Straits Times. It reads: KL airport to undergo ‘total revamp’ to stem drop in rankings.

The managing director of Malaysian Airport Holdings Berhad, which operates the airport, was quoting as saying that work on a total revamp of passenger facilities at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport is necessary to stem its rapid drop in international rankings.

I am aghast with your proposed approach to solving this problem, Mr Managing Director!

Of course, all new brooms sweep clean. But under your watch you have allowed the floor to accumulate dirt. No sooner, the floor would be dirty again. Another new broom?

The facilities at KLIA 1 are actually at par with the best in the world, even compared to the much touted World No 1, the Changi Airport. But unlike Changi Airport, many things are not quite right in KLIA under the carpet. 

The toilets and the trains between the main and satellite terminals are just the more visible symptoms. Ditto the ages that we have to wait for your baggage to come out of the carousel after your arrival. And don't count on those priority tags!

Mr Managing Director, the problem with KLIA is with your maintenance culture, or the lack of it, and, likely, also the attitude of your managers and supervisors.

I shuttle between Melbourne and Singapore. I fly Malaysia Airlines because its business class is cheaper compared to Singapore Airlines or Qantas. Also, since I am usually not in a hurry, a stopover in KLIA allows me to relax in MAS's very friendly lounges there. But the last two trips have made me change my mind about MAS and the management of KLIA! More about my unpleasant experience with MAS later; let me talk about KLIA first.

During my last September trip, the connecting flight from Kuala Lumpur arrived late, and I had to sprint to the  boarding gate upon my arrival at KLIA. If not for my Business Class ticket, I would have missed the flight.  But I had to content flying without the luggage which I had already checked in the Singapore end. I was told that flight control was the problem in KLIA, hence the late arrival of the aircraft. The same happened for my trip last month - non arrival of the "connecting"flight from Kuala Lumpur, again,  something to do with flight control there. MAS had to book us on SQ to fly direct to Melbourne. I heard it is also the same problem: something to do with flight controls KLIA. Where is the economics if they have to do this? 

To play safe, MAS usually offers a fairly long connecting time at KLIA for my Melbourne to Singapore journey. MAS’s flights out of Melbourne are usually punctual. If I travel Singapore Airlines, they would be able to put me in an earlier flight, but not MAS. Why, apparently, KLIA is not able to do it!

You don’t need to be a McKinsey genius to see what can be done for KLIA 1 and KLIA 2. All that the Mr Managing Director needs is to do is to walk around more often and maybe fly out to Singapore and Hong Kong from time to time to see what these airports are doing. There is no point going to Kennedy, or Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle; they are not great places to learn, really. But maybe it is not politically correct to learn from fellow Asians?

KLIA needs a total revamp, not on its facilities, but of the mindset of its top bosses like this Mr Managing Director.