Datuk Seri Hj. Saripuddin Hj. Kasim

Executive Chairman

Datuk Seri Hj. Saripuddin Hj. Kasim is MAVCOM’s Executive Chairman and was appointed on 4 May 2020. He was previously appointed as Commissioner of MAVCOM on 1 March 2016, while serving in his capacity as the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) until 6 January 2019. He had also served as the Director-General of Legal Affairs in the Prime Minister’s Department, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumers Affairs and Secretary-General of the Ministry of Human Resources. Prior to his retirement from the Malaysian Civil Service in November 2019, he served as the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Federal Territories.

Datuk Seri Hj. Saripuddin holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons.) from the University of Malaya, Advanced Diploma in Public Management from the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Corporate Finance from the University of Hartford, Connecticut, USA.

Raja Azmi bin Raja Nazuddin

Chief Operating Officer

Raja Azmi is currently MAVCOM’s Chief Operating Officer, leading the management team in its industry development and regulatory efforts. Prior to his appointment, he was the Group Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB). Raja Azmi was also the Executive Director and Group Chief Financial Officer of a leading real estate and property company, UDA Holdings Berhad.

He started his career in 1987 with Coopers & Lybrand Malaysia and later worked in Malaysian Tobacco Company Berhad as Internal Auditor and Marketing Accountant. His other work experiences include serving as Chief Executive Officer/ Managing Director of Zelan Berhad, Senior Director, Group Finance of UEM Group Berhad and Executive Director of Time Engineering Berhad. He also held positions as the Chief Financial Officer of Tronoh Consolidated Malaysia Berhad and Group Financial Controller of Sapura Telecommunications Berhad.

Raja Azmi is a Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), and the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Bath, United Kingdom.

Pushpalatha Subramaniam

Director, Consumer and Public Affairs

Pushpalatha Subramaniam heads the Consumer and Public Affairs Department in MAVCOM. In 2015, Pushpa was part of the establishment on the Malaysian Aviation Commission for Malaysia. She has been instrumental in establishing the first Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code (MACPC) in 2016 in Malaysia, a regulation to protect travellers in the civil aviation industry.

Under her leadership, she had led the implementation of various consumer awareness and education initiatives, empowering travellers with information on their travel rights under the MACPC. In addition, her team has consistently achieved more than 90 per cent resolution of consumer complaints since the first year of MAVCOM’s operation.

Pushpa also leads the development of the Airports Quality of Service (QoS) Framework and oversees the implementation of the Framework with the aim of enhancing passenger’s convenience and comfort, more importantly ensuring efficiencies at airports in Malaysia. The QoS has been implemented at both the terminals at KLIA and work is still in progress for other airports in Malaysia. 

Prior to this, she was the Senior Vice President in charge of customer experience in Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and later, Head of Customer Experience with Standard Chartered Malaysia. 

Pushpa has more than 27 years of experience in the airline industry with niche expertise in managing consumer affairs. Pushpa holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA) degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Australia. She also spent five years on the Board of the Worldwide Airline Customer Relations Association (WACRA) and is a member of the International Aviation Women’s Association (IAWA).

Jaffar Derus Ahmad

Director, Aviation Development  

Jaffar Derus Ahmad joined MAVCOM in June 2022, heading the Aviation Development Department.

Jaffar has over 31 years of in-depth experience across vast areas in the aviation industry. His career in aviation started in 1988 when he was employed as a Fuel Accounts Administrator for WestAir Commuter Airlines (doing business as United Express), a regional airline based in California, United States. He continued his career in aviation when he joined Malaysia Airline System Berhad (MAS) in 1993 as a Business Development Controller. His journey in MAS, which was subsequently known as Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), then evolved in managing different areas of expertise, including but not limited to network development, government and international relations, ground handling, airline alliances, and airport operations.

His last position at MAB was Head of Government Relations, which he held since September 2015 until his retirement in November 2021. He was responsible for the development, implementation, and management of strategic relationships with government officials and regulatory authorities, at both national and international levels. His other work experience includes stints at the Kuala Lumpur Commodity Exchange (KLCE), Technology Resources Industries Berhad (TRI), and United Malayan Banking Corporation Berhad (UMBC), which is now known as RHB Bank Berhad.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Accounting) degree from California State University, Fresno, United States.

Abdul Kadir Mohamed Abd Salam

Director, Corporate Affairs and Strategy  

Kadir leads the Corporate Affairs and Strategy Department in MAVCOM, comprising areas of finance, human capital management, strategy and risk, as well as legal, secretarial, and regulatory development, enforcement and ICT.

Kadir joined MAVCOM in 2015 as a Senior Manager of Finance, where he was part of MAVCOM’s pioneer team. He was instrumental in setting up the Commission’s operational infrastructure, policies, and procedures during the pre-commencement stage of MAVCOM’s establishment and led the daily financial management, including financial reporting, strategic planning as well as governance during his tenure. He was also entrusted to conduct a review of the Rural Air Services (RAS) operations in the interiors of East Malaysia. Due to his vast knowledge and strong financial acumen, he was appointed as Associate Director, Finance and Corporate Services in 2020.

Prior to MAVCOM, Kadir was a Manager in the Management Reporting & Performance Analysis team (Group Finance) at CIMB Group where he was primarily involved in internal and external management reporting processes such as performance analysis, statutory reporting, financial statements, and benchmarking. Kadir has also served as Executive Senior, Assurance (Financial Services) at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Malaysia.

Kadir is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and a member of Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). He received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Accounting and Financial Management from the University of Sheffield, and a Diploma of the International Baccalaureate Organization from MARA College in Banting, Selangor. Kadir is also a proud alumnus of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK).