Tony Fernandes CEO Blog

Protests and violence, shootings and deaths, the economy taking a hit, tourists cancelling trips – the events in Bangkok over the past few weeks make for distressing viewing.

But Thailand is an amazing country, and the Thai people a pragmatic lot. Now that the violence has ended, Bangkok is determined to bounce back and AirAsia is ready and willing to help.

So yesterday a team of us from Kuala Lumpur set off on flight FD 3572 for Bangkok. Sure, the flight wasn’t as full as it usually is but we had every nationality imaginable on board. It was the same great service, the same delicious food and the same AirAsia spirit of fun and laughter served up by our crew. We had some quizzes and gave out prizes. The crew were magnificent, especially senior flight attendant, Parinya and flight attendant executive, Phatsara both of whom showed tireless effort to make the journey a true AirAsia experience. That’s what earned us the ranking of “World’s best Low-Cost Airline” for the second year running in the Skytrax survey of 18 million travellers.

We went to Bangkok to demonstrate our commitment to the Land of Smiles. We are an Asean airline, and we are here to stay and help the diverse peoples of this region prosper. I believe that it is during crises that people recognize how AirAsia is different because these are the moments when our “can-do” attitude really shines through. Throughout this difficult time our Thai staff showed up for work without excuses, always smiling and above all, phenomenally professional despite the very real threat to their lives and well-being.

We view challenges as something to overcome. Not for us the woe is me, wringing of hands. That’s just not our culture. We always find a way to cope and transcend. That’s down to the creativity, hard work and dedication of our 7,500 staff. I always say that in our short eight years, we have been through every crisis and catastrophe known to mankind – disease, disaster, dissent – but we always bounce back. So will Bangkok. And we’re helping by giving out 10,000 free seats to Bangkok from anywhere on our network.

As our Thai AirAsia CEO, Tassapon Bijleveld, said yesterday: “The past is like a rear view mirror, smaller than a windshield because the future is far bigger than what’s behind us.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

What a hectic two weeks, it has been. First Barcelona then Monaco which was a fantastic race with Heikki finishing as the quickest driver among the new teams; then it was a whistle stop in Tokyo to collect the Nikkei prize.

What really ended the week on a high though was AirAsia being named the Best Low Cost Airline by Skytrax for the second year running. This award means a lot to us for two reasons. First it is the second consecutive year which we’ve been given the accolade and second, the Skytrax survey is an independent worldwide passenger poll. Winning this gives us public and global recognition for the hard work we put in at AirAsia. For this I’m giving our AirAsia AllStars thumbs up for a job well done.

Operating more than 2,000 flights a day to move 24 million people over 120 routes while ensuring that we keep costs down, is truly a massive logistical feat and I am very proud that we have made it to be of world class standards.
They say that being at the top can be a curse because it leaves you nothing more to aim for. I reckon that’s only true if you don’t aim to stay there. What we would really like now is to score a hat trick and win this award again next year. Ultimately we would like to one day be voted as not only the world’s best low cost airline but the world’s best airline, period.

To get there I’m well aware of ways we can make things better. That’s why we take in and listen to all feedback and complaints from our guests, no matter how small. From queues to the in-flight experience to booking and the response from our guest support; we are working out ways to improve and serve our guests better.

I realise AirAsia is a subject that evokes strong emotions from people perhaps owing to our rather unique history, but mostly because so many of you fly with us. We will never forget that it is because of our guests that we are the success we are today. So yes, we know we’re not perfect but we’re sure as hell going to try to be.

Thank you all for your support.