Tony Fernandes CEO Blog

In the history of my working life, innovation has been the one priority foremost in my mind to ensure that we are always competitive. I was thrilled when Fast Company voted AirAsia as one of the top 50 innovative companies in the world. It was a thrill to be in the same ranks as Apple, Google, Nike and BMW.

Fostering a culture of innovation within the organisation is a challenge and over the next few years, I will be seeking to study even more deeply the factors inherent in how one creates an environment that can foster innovation. Some of it is cultural; some of it is due to the environment we live in. In Asia, society is still largely hierarchical and conformist. Yes, it is changing thanks to the digital era but we are not there yet where people speak up freely and boldly without on a regular basis.

So, at AirAsia, we’ve sought to level the playing field. We are a company based on meritocracy.

We value creativity and seek it from whatever the source. To encourage free-flowing exchanges of ideas, we did away with titles on our business cards, we dress down, our offices are open-plan based for effective communication, and we have a powerful Intranet which allows for forums and discussion.

We constantly challenge ourselves to find better ways of running not just our businesses, but also our own lives and helping society. I want to build a room dedicated to innovation, a room where the sparks set off by the creative tension of the debates and discussions will light up our entire company and become a catalyst for change.

We have implemented many innovative actions over the last seven years since taking over AirAsia, but we cannot lay claim to inventing the low-cost model for airlines. That accolade belongs to Southwest. But what we did invent was AirAsia X, the world's first truly long-haul low cost airline.

I was thrilled to invite Richard, whom I worked with to join me in this quest to go where no man had gone before; to link communities and cultures and make the world an even smaller place at a very affordable price. AirAsia X is basically AirAsia on steroids.

We have more seats per square inch in the aircraft, but it's still comfortable. We execute fast turnarounds (yes, it does make a difference), we have high utilisation and we will go to secondary airports such as Gold Coast (Coolangatta) in Australia. In just one year, we have had three Airbus A330-300 planes delivered to us and will potentially have eight aircraft by the end of the year, consisting of six A330s and two A340s.

It's a one-class flight, though you can pay a slightly higher fare for premium XL seats. We charge for food. We have a fantastic in-flight entertainment system and, of course, we linked AirAsia X with the very powerful and extensive network of AirAsia.

On the 11th of March, when AirAsia X will have the first London- to- Kuala Lumpur flight, it will be a proud day for me as it will be recorded in history as the longest low-cost flight. And I do believe that this flight will change aviation forever.

Outside of aviation, we have come up with Tune Hotel which is a five- star limited service hotel.

Check it out at www.tunehotels.com, with rooms starting from USD 2 a night and averaging around USD 10 a night.

In summary, innovation opens pathways that appear closed. Innovation provides opportunities to live your values, even as it improves a company’s bottom line. Only innovation -- be it in our business, our lives, our societies, our nations – can ensure that we overcome the personal, national and global challenges that we face daily.

I recently paid a visit to the Sinar Harian, a newspaper published by Akhbar Cabaran Sdn Bhd, which is related to the Kumpulan Karangkraf & Ultimate Group of Companies, to meet Dato' Hussamuddin. This is a group that I have come to know for many years primarily due to my involvement in the music business and his many entertainment magazines.

Walking through Sinar Harian's office reminded me so much of AirAsia. Vivid red colours, energetic, can-do staff and a mind-set of always challenging the big guys. Many things brought a smile to my face but a few stood out. One was that Sinar Harian's printing presses came from the original Star printing press, which is reminiscent of us starting from somewhere with borrowed strength. And, of course, the entrepreneurial stance of the company, particularly its quickness in closing out deals.

But my most enjoyable moment was going into Dato' Hussamuddin’s office and seeing a picture of his schooldays.

Photo courtesy of Dato' Hussamuddin

It brought immense joy to me and I hope one day in the not-too-distant future we will see this kind of photo again on walls all across Malaysia . This photo was taken in Kota Baru. A multi-racial class, and muti-racial teachers. Dato' Hussamuddin mentioned to me that everyone bought the concept at that time and everyone thought of only one thing: Malaysia.

I have many, many views on education. But I'll just summarise some key points:

1) Get rid of afternoon school. How can we say in this day and age that we don't have enough schools with classrooms to accommodate pupils in morning sessions? Afternoon should be saved for games and extra curricular activities.

2) Games, sports and art and culture are crucial to all-round character building. It is on the sports field that we encounter with our first team-building and communications experiences. It’s in drama class that you get your first creative experience. We need creative people and team players if Malaysia is to prosper in this challenging era of globalization.

3) Fewer exams. Why do we need so many? Yes, we must be prudent about this as examinations are a test of accumulated knowledge and lessons picked up but we must also be wary not to get carried away by relying solely on test after test to evaluate our children.

4) Wouldn't it be great if all our kids spoke Tamil or Hindi, Mandarin, Malay and English? How strong we would be! What a work force we would present to the globalised world. This includes, of course, maintaining high standards in English, the current forerunner in communication between borders. This is so important for us to prosper as a nation and enhance a competitive work force that is taken seriously around the world.

5) In the curriculum, encouragement and fostering of creative thinking must take centre stage and not just memorising a book. Rote learning will not cut it in this new digital era. We need to create an environment where the creative juices must be allowed to flow freely and experimentation is encouraged.

6) Give schools self governance. Allow more autonomy to school boards and allow parents to be more involved. Devolve management and power. It’s exactly what I feel should also constitute business ideals.

I have much more to say. My next post will be on innovation. Also, we will be adjusting the blog so I can reply immediately to comments in the same response column. And I'm enjoying chatting with you on meebo which has been simply a fantastic addition to the blog.

I will be posting my thoughts on KLIA-East in due course. Have a great week and wishing all Chinese in Malaysia and around the globe a Very Prosperous New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Maintaining this blog has been trying at times and I have been guilty of not having all the time in the world to reply back to you in lightning speed. In the light of all this, I am pleased to announce that you will find a new portion on the blog dedicated to a chat space hosted by Meebo. I will be running this on a trial basis and we'll take it from there.

For guests who would like to leave me a message while I am offline, please feel free to do so and I will get back to you when I am able to search for a breather in between. For those who manage to catch me online, feel free to also drop me a line and let’s see if we can get a chat going. Am excited with this new chat feature on my blog which will open a whole new channel of interaction and am definitely looking forward to get in touch with you directly on the go.

It has been exciting and I look forward to great conversations to and fro in the future. Thank you for all your feedback, letters of support and suggesstions. Once again, have a great 2009!