And the new MAS MD is...

Kuala Lumpur: The new managing director (MD) of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is - your guess is as good as mine. At least that is what analysts are saying.

Read more: And the new MAS MD is... http://www.btimes.com.my/articles/maai4f/Article/#ixzz1UmNb8MhN

While they expect an MD to be named in the next couple of weeks, a source believes that he or she could be named as early as today. The MAS executive committee (exco) is believed to have had its first official meeting yesterday. While analysts agree the person will be independent of all the three parties in the deal - Khazanah Nasional Bhd, AirAsia Bhd and MAS, no one has a clue as to who could be the likely candidate. "I think it's safe to say the person won't be from (Time) Warner," quipped one analyst who declined to be named. At the possibility of a foreigner coming in to run the troubled carrier, he said the exco seemed to brush off the idea when asked. Another analyst opined that having a foreigner would not be a politically sound move. "The new guy will probably just come out of the blue, just like how (Tan Sri) Tony Fernandes came out of the blue and bought Tune Air Sdn Bhd for RM1," he said. At the possibility of MAS' newly appointed executive director Mohammed Rashdan Yusof becoming the new managing director, an analyst said "definitely not". Furthermore, he would have already been made the chief if Khazanah had wanted him to be from the start, another reckoned. One of the biggest challenges for the new MD is to deal with the airline's eight unions and 19,000 employees. The new boss will also have to contend with a new board of directors who are known to be strong personalities. MAS and AirAsia stocks were the two top most traded shares yesterday, with MAS shares inching higher by 8 sen, extending gains seen on Wednesday, to close at RM1.80. AirAsia shares fell by another 4 sen, ending the day at RM3.50.