Malaysia Airlines began life as Malayan Airways. Its first commercial flight took off in April 1947, an Airspeed Consul hopping from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. After independence the carrier became Malaysia-Singapore Airlines. When that joint airline split in 1972, the Malaysian half took the name Malaysian Airline System. It later traded under the shorter name Malaysia Airlines. Through the 1980s and 1990s it earned a strong reputation.
Its long-haul network stretched from Los Angeles to London, and its cabin crews won awards again and again. In 2013 it joined oneworld, a partnership that ties member airlines' networks together. Then came 2014 and the two deadliest events in the airline's history. In March, flight MH370 vanished over the Indian Ocean with 239 people aboard. That loss is still one of aviation's greatest unsolved mysteries.
In July, flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 on board. Facing collapse, state investment fund Khazanah Nasional took the airline private. It relaunched as Malaysia Airlines Berhad on September 1, 2015, with a smaller map focused on Asia and Australia plus one London flagship route. The carrier has since rebuilt around Airbus A350s and 737 MAXs and is profitable again inside oneworld.