2007–2011: In private hands
AirBridge acquired 99.9% of the airline in February 2007. It had 1,785 staff members, as of 31 December 2007.[9]
Despite Czech Airlines' offer to sponsor Malév as an associate member of the SkyTeam alliance, and MALÉV's codeshare agreements with several SkyTeam carriers, Malév joined Oneworld on 29 March 2007.
On 12 July 2007, Lloyd Paxton was appointed CEO of MALÉV. Paxton replaced János Gönci, who remained on the board of directors as an adviser. Paxton was the first MALÉV CEO to come from the airline industry. He had been with British Airways for over 35 years and more recently with Air Astana. Two months later, on 14 September 2007, Lloyd Paxton resigned as CEO of MALÉV, replaced by Péter Leonov.[10] In January 2009, Ballo Anatoly Borisovich became the chairman.[11]
On 18 March 2009, the Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank took a 49% minority stake in AirBridge Zrt., the shareholder of the struggling airline, and gave managing control to Russian flag carrier Aeroflot.[12] The Hungarian government retained 51% majority ownership. Martin Gauss, former CEO of DBA and Cirrus Airlines as well as a Boeing 737 pilot was elected CEO on 15 April 2009.[13] During the management of Martin Gauss, MALÉV reached a load factor above industry average among "traditional" airlines, comparable to that of low-cost airlines. One of the reasons of the departure of Martin Gauss as CEO of MALÉV was the benefit ceiling established by the newly elected government, led by Viktor Orbán, in 2010, where a ceiling of €8000 gross monthly salary (approx €5000 net) was set for all managers, governing state-owned companies.[14][15]
In 2009, Malév became the second airline outside of the former Soviet Union – after the Italian ItAli Airlines – to order the Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100, when it signed a letter of intent for 15 planes with an option for 15 more. News organizations speculated that the deal was influenced by minority owner Vneshekonombank and partner airline Aeroflot. The order was suspended in 2011, one year before Malév ceased operations.[16][17][18]
The airline was renationalised in February 2010, with Hungarian state holding company MNV acquiring a 95% stake in the airline. The remaining 5% remained with AirBridge. In December 2010, the European Commission began an investigation into illegal government subsidies of Malév.[19]
