Tony Fernandes CEO Blog

Last night was definitely a night to remember. AirAsia and AirAsia X's joint win as Airline of the Year at the CAPA awards marks another major milestone in our journey. After just eight years, to come out ahead of established airlines like Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific not just means so much to us but also demonstrates that Malaysian companies can compete with and triumph over so-called "heavyweights" on the global stage.

The award is recognition of the hard work, passion, creativity and innovation that our 7,000 AirAsians bring to their jobs every day. Without them, we will not be where we are as an airline, let alone be winning the highest awards granted by the industry. To them, and to the millions of guests who fly us daily, I say a very big Thank You.

Our journey began with just two planes, one destination, and 250 staff. The first year, we carried 250,000 guests. Now,our fleet consists of 85 largely brand new Airbus aircraft (A320s for AirAsia, A330s for AirAsia X). We expect to ferry 24 million guests this year (and more than 75 million in the eight years we have been in operation); and we fly to more than 60 destinations.

We are humbled by this award and here's our pledge: That this recognition will spur us to improve our services, lower our fares even more and provide our guests with the high-quality they expect from us. We are determined to continue to demonstrate that "low cost" does not equate to "low quality."

One other thing: I would like to think that AirAsia as a whole has made an impact not just in the aviation industry but in other fields as well. Our people and our positive energy what I call our "Two P's" is what has brought us to where we are today. We hope that this will rub off on Malaysians as well. As a society, we tend to be very negative and critical. Imagine how much more we can achieve as a nation if, instead of constantly complaining, we channel our talent and potential into realising our goals and making our dreams come true.

As we say in AirAsia;
Dream the impossible,
Believe the unbelievable,
And never take no for an answer.

Last night, this old man was very very happy. Thank you for sharing our joy and for supporting us.

Going off to London again on Friday. Among other things, planning to do a series of media interviews to promote AirAsia X's maiden Kuala Lumpur-London flight on March 11. It's a historical occasion, the first time a low-cost carrier is linking Asia, Europe and Australia. We're very excited about it.

For all who’ve been wondering, we will also be meeting Manchester United officials again while we are in Britain next week.The media coverage on us has been fantastic this past week on Man United's invitation to AirAsia to be their main shirt sponsor. More than 70 print, broadcast and online media worldwide worldwide reported the story, with most of them even quoting directly from my blog post. Will keep you posted.

Now, on to another subject. From the time the blog was launched, there’s been lots of questions on how to be a pilot, will you take me as a pilot, etc. Everyone, it seems, wants to be a pilot with AirAsia.

Well, here's the deal. The AirAsia blog will soon launch a competition and from the entries, we'll pick 10 qualified winners and give them an opportunity to become an AirAsia pilot.

Not going to say much here but if you want a chance to fly an AirAsia Airbus, check the blog this week for details.

The past few weeks displayed to me the power of a brand. Many have asked for tips. There are tips on each of my posts. Some subtle whilst others are direct. But this post is direct one. As a businessman or businesswoman the lesson here is not to neglect your brand and always invest in your brand.

The brand.

The value of a brand is hard to quantify and investment in a brand is always hard to justify but the last few weeks showed me how important it is and how our investment over the last 6 years has paid off handsomely.

For the past few weeks, I have attended the Forbes Global CEO Conference, JATA World Congress Tourism Congress and the World Low Cost Airlines Congress 2008 as keynote speaker. What struck me was that in 6 years from all parts of the globe AirAsia has become synonymous with low cost travel.

What does that mean? It means that when someone thinks of low cost travel in Asia they think AirAsia. When someone wants to partner with a low cost airline they think AirAsia. When we need to make new contacts, look for finances and build new relationships, it's much easier as everyone knows AirAsia. So the extra revenue, time and cost savings can all arise by promoting your brand.

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The A380 experience. I haven't flown SIA for a long time certainly not on long haul as I used to get a discount from MAS (but please note used to hahaha). I have been flying the Gulf Airlines as they are cheaper but decided to treat myself and fly on SQ A380 in their suites.

The picture tells a million words even though I'm pretty lousy photographer. But it is a wonderful sight to behold and an amazing piece of engineering.

But what amazed me before I talk about the title was how happy the SIA crew were to see me. They all said that AirAsia had made a big difference to their lives both from the fact they could fly more and the fact that our company showed that you don't need to put people in boxes. That AirAsia had allowed cabin crew to be pilots, boys who carried bags to be pilots, call center staff to be Station Managers. It was great to hear all of this. But the best part of the conversation was that we gave from our heart and that we put our employees first.

It was strange hearing it from a Singaporean staff as sometimes I even feel my own staff don't realize but it was a great feeling nevertheless. It was a wonderful feeling that a Malaysian company of only 6 years can impact an airline that has clearly been the world's best. But that's my thought for the day.

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