Malaysia Airlines aircraft at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Friday. European Pressphoto Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—One month after Malaysia Airlines 3786.KU 0.00% Flight 370 disappeared on a seemingly routine journey to Beijing, the company's chief executive said the mystery over what happened to the plane has hurt sales.
Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said Saturday that the airline is still focused on the needs of the families of the passengers and crew, and is holding off on fully assessing how the crisis is affecting business.
"Our primary focus right now is that we do take care of the families in terms of their emotional needs and also their financial needs," Mr. Ahmad said. "It's important that we provide answers for them. It's important that the world has answers, as well."
Malaysia Airlines also has to get through the crisis and find some resolution before moving forward, Mr. Ahmad said.
"We still have an airline to run, we still have tickets to sell, we still have people to fly," he said. "It has not been easy for us, especially (for) those who lost their friends."
The Malaysia Airlines chief executive said ticket sales have suffered after Flight 370 disappeared with 239 people on board, most of them Chinese nationals. This is partly due to the airline's move to suspend advertising promotions.
Malaysia Airlines, run by Malaysian Airline System Bhd. and majority owned by a government pension fund, had been struggling to contain costs and overcome a challenge from a new wave of budget carriers in the region long before Flight 370 vanished from radar screens in the early hours of March 8. The airline booked a full-year loss of 1.17 billion ringgit ($356 million) in 2013 following losses of 433 million ringgit in 2012 and 2.5 billion ringgit in 2011.
Industry analysts say they expect the carrier to lose more market share following the flight's disappearance. Once Malaysia Airlines and its shareholders refocus their attention on business operations, the airline could respond by stepping up in-flight service to outshine those of its primary low-cost competitor, AirAsia 5099.KU -1.65% Bhd.
But that is unlikely to make it stand out given stiff regional competition from other full-service carriers. It can add more fuel-efficient aircraft. But most competitors are doing the same. Or it can lower fares, although that reduces revenue.
"This will increase the cost of your recovery, and your turnaround plan will be further delayed," said Morgan Stanley analyst Daniel Lau. "It's a tough time for them."
Malaysia Airlines was taking steps to address its financial problems before the Flight 370 crisis. It cut loss-making routes to the U.S., South Africa and Argentina. It also cut fares to fill more seats on core routes, especially in the Asian region, a sweet spot for the global industry where air travel is enjoying an unprecedented boom.
Mr. Ahmad, an engineer by training with a graying buzz-cut, said the airline was adequately insured to cover the financial loss of Flight 370. He said he didn't want to comment on any potential legal action coming from families of passenger or crew given the absence of any formal litigation.
But Mr. Ahmad indicated that efforts to revive the foundering carrier will eventually intensify. "We know what we need to do," he said, declining to elaborate.
—Mark Magnier and James Hookway contributed to this article.
Write to Gaurav Raghuvanshi at gaurav.raghuvanshi@wsj.com and Jason Ng at jason.ng@wsj.com