KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A top Malaysian economic policymaker said on Thursday he would not rejoin ailing carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) (KL:MASM) as chief executive, dismissing a report that he was among several candidates to replace the current management.
Idris Jala, who heads the Economic Transformation Programme, was the airline's chief executive from 2005 to 2009 before he joined the government.
"I've seen online reports speculating that I will be returning to MAS. I am not heading there. I will continue in my present role," Jala said in a posting on Twitter.
A local newspaper reported on Wednesday that Jala and Jamaludin Ibrahim, the chief executive of state-controlled telecoms firm Axiata (KL:AXIA), were two leading candidates being considered by state-fund Khazanah Nasional to revive the national carrier.
Malaysia Airlines is set to be taken private by Khazanah in a move to revamp its business, which has been devastated this year by the disappearance of Flight MH370 and the shooting down of Flight MH17.
The airline plans to announce next week its second-quarter earnings, likely to be its last set of results as a listed company.
(Reporting By Trinna Leong; editing by Stuart Grudgings and Miral Fahmy)