KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 — When the Covid-19 pandemic is finally over, the one enduring lesson we will all have learned is adaptability.
One of the first severely hit industries was aviation and almost overnight pilots, cabin crew and the front-line staff in airline companies lost their jobs.
It was the same for many in Malaysia Airlines Berhad but the company also offered its flight staff a chance to reskill under the MHEdgile programme.
According to general manager, talent acquisition performance and human capital enterprise, Aida Salfaraz Ahmad Fadzil, the MHEdgile programme is open to more than 2,000 such employees.
They were given on-the-job training, free of charge, to prepare them for new roles such as in facilities management and audit, etc.
“This initiative is offered on a voluntary basis and is subject to job prerequisites and selection criteria of the receiving department.
“All assignments will be on a full-time basis; however, employees for example, pilots will still be allowed to maintain their job licence validity. This also does not affect employees pay rate, grade and position in the company as the jobs are temporary,” she said.
Staying relevant
As in-flight supervisor Mark Yugendran Thambyrajah puts it, “Without flights, we have no jobs.
All my life I’ve dedicated it to aviation, that’s all I know, so when Covid-19 hit us, we felt redundant.
“So what happens if you stay on like that, you’re actually bleeding the company. So taking a step forward… all the in-flight supervisors were taken to a new level.
“We are now going to be two weeks on the ground and three weeks flying. All our lives we’ve been taking care of in-flight passengers, now it’s time to take care of our internal staff,” he said in an online interview.
Mark, who is currently based in London, is now part of the human capital department in charge of culture engagement.
Although he has experience as a trainer, switching to this department still had its challenges, Mark said.
“It’s like jumping into a pool at the deep end. I was assigned to do short videos for internal circulation to motivate the staff.
“I’m still flying just to keep my licence running and I’m happy with it,” he said.
Mark has been with the airline for close to 31 years, and moved up the ranks from a steward to in-flight supervisor. He later switched to take up the job of a trainer.
Moving out of the comfort zone
Captain Andrew Lui Kok Kean who has close to 20 years’ experience flying has today taken up the role of a senior manager for the property facilities maintenance services department.
“It is a very nice word for a department of contractors, engineers and cleaners. It’s a very wide scope… the learning curve is very steep, I’m not familiar with a lot of things except that I’m pretty good at saving costs when it comes to maintenance because I know how to deal with contractors… in that sense I’m settling in okay,” he said.
“In my present job, I realised that I actually don’t know much we thought that we knew a lot but we realised that we know very little.”
“But you have to challenge yourself and learn something new so when your time is over, you can say ‘been there done that’,” he added.
“Property is not an easy department to handle, because you’re dealing with facilities that are running 24/7.
“I’m like a 7-Eleven, open 24 hours, my phone rings (and I hear) ‘Boss, problem, boss, problem’,” he said jokingly saying he basically needed a lot of Panadol and ginseng and a good sense of humour.
“Take it all in with some positivity. Laugh at it, laugh at yourself, I suppose that keeps me going,” he added.
From zero to hero
As for lead stewardess Norazalina Abdul Majid, having to switch jobs after 25 years was not an easy transition.
“Like Mark, I was seconded to human capital. It’s actually a whole new ball game.
“What I have done in the last 25 years of flight attending, was taking care of passengers, making sure they reach from point A to B.
“Suddenly under this programme… now we’re taking care of internal staff. It’s different because this is our own people,” she said.
Norazalina said prior to the switch, she had zero knowledge of Microsoft Power Point and Excel.
“For us cabin crew, the only time we use the computer is to sign in and sign out, or send a report. I am proud to say that with the help and support of the leaders, I actually have my name on the crisis handbook as a curator; from a stewardess I actually came up with a crisis handbook used by the entire group,” she said.