The National Union of Flight Attendants (NUFAM) is giving Malaysia Airlines (MAS) 48 hours to withdraw termination letters given to some 6,000 employees, failing which a strike is a possibility.

NUFAM president Ismail Nasaruddin said the staff involved should also be re-employed.

"If these conditions are not met within 48 hours, the affected employees will all undergo (a) tools-down campaign against the airline throughout and continuously will protest against MAS," he told a press conference here today.

He warned this would continue until the conditions were met with "fruitful results".

MAS will not rehire 6,000 of its 20,000-strong personnel who were served with termination letters under a restructuring exercise seen crucial in ensuring the survival of the airline that will become Malaysia Airlines Berhad from September.

According to Ismail, the carrier should look at the humanitarian angle as the termination move was causing difficulties to those affected.