Review of Malaysia Airlines flight from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Lumpur in Economy

Welcome to Malaysia Airlines System Berhad!
1st June 2015 - a D-Day for the entire Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) employees as they start to get to know their fate whether most of them (14,000) may get a job at the new company, to be called Malaysia Airlines Berhad, or being listed among 6,000 who would eventually be laid-off with compensation.
BACKGROUND
I was asked by my boss to attend a meeting on behalf of our agency at Shah Alam, the state capital of Selangor, which lies about 30km from Kuala Lumpur. Realising that MAS would upgrade some scheduled domestic flights to larger aircrafts on selected routes, I took the opportunity by booking my return tickets to KUL, all onboard Boeing 777. The upgrade was due to expected surge in domestic travellers during 2 week long school holidays, with parents taking the opportunity to bring their children for a holiday, perhaps a bit further than simply driving.
Flight: MH2641
Aircraft type: Airbus A330-300
Aircraft registration: 9M-MTA (Delivered new to MAS on 4th April 2011)
ATD: 12.39PM (Malaysia Standard Time)
ATA: 2.47PM (Malaysia Standard Time)
Duration: 2 hours and 8 minutes
Seat: 30K
THE FLIGHT
Since I only stayed at Shah Alam for two nights, I only bring my carry-on baggage containing my clothes, my strap bag where I put my laptop and holding my coat (since I can't fit it into my carry-on baggage). I bypass the check-in counter since I checked-in online the day before and straight into security clearance and got my ID and boarding pass checked. There were no crowds lining up at the security clearance up until I entered the boarding lounge.

Although I expected my ride to be onboard Boeing 777, but I didn't feel upset. In fact, this was the first time I will be onboard MAS's new Airbus A330. The particular aircraft that took me to KUL is registered as 9M-MTA, delivered as MAS's first of the new A330-300X equipped with new cabin products back in April 2011. It was the first real commitment of the airline to rejuvenate its ageing fleet, in the hope of returning to profitability. But, as we know now even that failed to lift MAS into the black.
Boarding was soon announced. Families with children and business class passengers were given priority boarding. As the last remaining passengers (including me) was allowed to board, I am curious to see the morale of cabin crews after 1st June. At the cabin door, I was greeted by seemingly confident and zealous steward who graciously welcome me on board. At that point, I was thinking, probably that guy is happy that he gets to retain his job at the new company.

The IFE is the same as the ones found on the airline's Boeing 737-800 fleet. In last year's report, I lamented on how slow the response rate of the IFE's touch screen. And on this flight, the performance is the same. The movie selection is not limited, but not extensive either. I scanned through the movie titles and all of it have been aired on cable TV. I tried accessing the flight information page, and it took forever for the page to load. I finally gave up on using the IFE.

Around 30 minutes after departure, lunch began to be served. There were no menu cards given, so I wasn’t able to figure out the exact way the meals were cooked. By the time the cabin crew reached my seat row, he only simply asked me chicken or fish?
I chose fish…
He seemed to rush to finish the meal service quickly. No obvious smile. I was pondering whether he gets to keep his job or otherwise. I didn’t dare to ask any of the crews though.

I have no issue with the main meal, except that the portion is rather small. I sprinkled the salted peanuts in the rice to make my meal more crunchy and satisfying. The marble cake was rather dry. It is obvious that the quality of meal has slowly gone downhill. I used to disagree with using meal boxes into domestic flights to replace trays because it looked cheap for full service carrier. But, I begin to think that boxes can be practical, easy to handle and when I finish my meal, I just put the leftovers back inside the box.

Since many passengers (266 of them including me) were in the plane, I let them passed through me seat first to disembark. I usually among the last ones to disembark so I can get my belongings from the overhead locker without slowing down the traffic at the aisle. With only carry-on baggage with me, I went straight out to the arrival hall. I went to the ATM to get some money, then booked a taxi to my hotel at Shah Alam.

That's it for my trip report! Stay tuned for my return journey.