CEO says Malaysia Airlines has first monthly profit in years

In an interview with The Associated Press, CEO Christoph Mueller described the airline as a "ship that has many leaks," but said the monthly profit was a sign that things are on the right track.

[...] Mueller said its main problems were an unsustainable network of routes, high operating costs and archaic information technology systems, among others.

"For a company that lost 2 billion ringgit ($511 million) just last year, if you are able to break even for a month or so, it means the financial gap between revenue and cost has significantly closed, and that is good news that tells us that we are on the right trajectory," he said.

The company was removed from Malaysia's stock exchange the same year, with the government pumping in 6 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion) under a radical restructuring.

In December, Malaysia Airlines unveiled an alliance with Emirates that allows it to piggyback on at least 70 of the Gulf carrier's global routes so it can focus on Asia.

Asked if this was to remove the stigma associated with the tragedies, Mueller said it was because the 777s were the oldest planes in the airline's fleet, averaging 16 1/2 years, and were the least fuel efficient.

An ongoing search in the southern Indian Ocean, where aviation experts believe the plane crashed after deviating from its original flight path, has found nothing so far.