Tony Fernandes CEO Blog

Absolutely agree with you, Tony...dialogue is far better than Union.

sir...pls dont change the team Lotus name~~!! FInd your sportmanship back..........pls remain the core as racing instead of businesss~~!! You once told us about your childhood fantasy......and now you abandon it just for business purposes~~!! Isnt that kinda eating your own words at the beginning???I hope you're more than a businessman...a role model!! If you treasure branding...focus more on racing...when you win your first race, you will have all the commercial exposure you want!! And i hope India GP will be run by both experience driver lineup instead of commercial puppet!! PR is good for business.....but if too much it will ruins the sport!! Nobody will support a team that can score a points.....when you do score your first point......people will focus more on you automatically, no money needed for publicity!!~~ I sincerely hope that branding wasnt the only tricks that got you to success..............(No offense, im just a pure racing fans, and thanks to you...now im a football fans too)

Union is usually for those who are weak & for those who can't speak for themselves. As normal human nature, first step is always to ensure the well-being of yourself before others. So, what's the point of the Union? Is the Union going to speak up for you without any return? Some way or another, some form of return is expected..

I have known some union leaders to benefit them self from their company..they shake their heads to what the management wants when the management gives them extra benefits or allowances.

Well Said Tan Sri, You are the Real Business Tycoon. All the best

Tony, you do a good job looking after YOUR staff. But MAS employees are not your main stakeholders. Many saw how you/Airasia handled the MAHB fiasco where AirAsia took its time to pay arrears in taxes and even then pushed for incentive! Whats your comment on that?

Tony, not all unions are like what you said, union can be work for or against a company but if you're referring to local airline industry certainly you're spot on. Too many unions in a single company, surely something is not right in the system.

"We should all win together" This is amazing... no words/comments to speak about this..everything is in it... Bless U AirAsia

yup, i do think communication is the best way to solve any problem...the most important thing is that the staffs and all the workers are satisfy and enjoying the working..this fact implicitly support the maxim of 'mind over matter' if they love to do the working, any matter can be done easily, without mumbling and whining...

I wonder how realistic it is for a union to speak for the issues and concerns of a group of 10 members, let alone a group of hundreds / thousands. Sometimes, there is a conflict of interest between the union leaders and members resulting in the voice of the members not being heard. Even more frustrating is the fact that some employees are required to become union members because they are not 'officers'. The existence of unions may cause a gap between the company and its employees. The company may be willing to provide good compensation and good benefits to its employees; however, because of the existence of unions, and the need for union leaders to extract more out of CBA negotiations, a company may propose a conservative package to allow room for further negotiations. Time wasted on meaningless negotiations which could otherwise be used for productive activities. I trust that AirAsia is able to engage its staff in many different ways, because employees vote with their feet and when they feel that they aren't being treated properly, they can just quit and go somewhere else. Please continue to give everyone a chance and inspire people to dream the impossible.

Agree with u on the Union for @AirAsia . Saw in a few interview, even the staff don't want it coz they have straight access to you

There are no 'workers' at AirAsia. Everyone is a business partner whose input matters and whose voices can be readily heard. Unions and systems are only representative of a by-gone era. If genuine concerns have to be relayed through an 'alternative' group, it clearly displays that the top echelon and demographically lower tiered partners aren't on a consensus ad idem - i.e, meeting of minds. Unions are standby, what ifs, like a guerrilla army. AirAsia is an airline for the masses. When we work together, we win together!

yeah....really appreciable . without support from your staff , you cant be in this position like a giant in low cost career operation in asia.i always astonished in your company union and operation when your aircraft is spotted in sky and your post comes in facebook...really appreciable and i am impressed..however we can astonish and clap hands only... i cant introduce my hand nothing more than that...cheers

Unionisation is about more than simply unions being obstructive and self serving. It is about the power of collective bargaining, and ensuring that the workers are not exploited in the pursuit of excessive gain for the management. Sometimes, granted, it fails- but this is generally a failure on both sides of the bargaining table, as in the British car industry in the 1970s. However, more often, collective bargaining allows a more inclusive way of doing business, one which allows all stakeholders to benefit. This models works and has worked for many years in Germany and the Nordic countries. Otherwise a situation develops where the owner of an airline is rich enough to buy a football team, and the cabin crew are made to travel to the airport on the bus.

Union members earn better wages and benefits than workers who aren’t union members. On average, union workers’ wages are 30 percent higher than their nonunion counterparts. While only 14 percent of nonunion workers have guaranteed pensions, fully 68 percent of union workers do. More than 97 percent of union workers have jobs that provide health insurance benefits, but only 85 percent of nonunion workers do. Unions help employers create a more stable, productive workforce—where workers have a say in improving their jobs.

Let's get one thing straight... Employers and Corporations did not feel generous and decide to give you two days off every week to have a social/personal life. (We now call them weekends). Corporations did not just feel like being nice one day and give their employees paid vacations. CEOs didn't get together in a board room and say "Let's give our employees more rights at work" or "Maybe there should be laws to limit our power over an employee". Virtually ALL the benefits you have at work, whether you work in the public or private sector, all of the benefits and rights you enjoy everyday are there because unions fought hard and long for them against big business who did everything they could to prevent giving you your rights. Many union leaders and members even lost their lives for things we take for granted today

why need union, when all your staffs has direct access to you, at least through this blog. I have not come across any other CEO's blog. Salute!

Let's get one thing straight... Employers and Corporations did not feel generous and decide to give you two days off every week to have a social/personal life. (We now call them weekends). Corporations did not just feel like being nice one day and give their employees paid vacations. CEOs didn't get together in a board room and say "Let's give our employees more rights at work" or "Maybe there should be laws to limit our power over an employee". Virtually ALL the benefits you have at work, whether you work in the public or private sector, all of the benefits and rights you enjoy everyday are there because unions fought hard and long for them against big business who did everything they could to prevent giving you your rights. Many union leaders and members even lost their lives for things we take for granted today

Union(s) is one of the MAJOR problem that caused Malaysian Airlines to suffer financial losses. Pilots burned unnecessary jet fuel up in the air sometimess more than US1000-US1250 jet fuel per long haul per flight. If you do the culcalation, the direct cost is scary. Unhappy pilots in MAS told me this and they say its a common practice. WoW ! You are a shareholder of MAS now, why not take a look into this. It may save you something like US$125,000/day!! Cheers