Tony Fernandes CEO Blog

In running an airline there will be high points and low points. It gets pretty low when we hit brick walls when dealing with Malaysia Airlines and Malaysia Airports. At moments like these you do wonder if you got what you bargained for. But then along comes a high moment; a smile, a cheer, a thumbs up, or a note thanking us for making someone’s life better and suddenly, your spirit is revived.

Today I experienced a high moment when I got an email from one of our employees. He joined us as a guest service agent when AirAsia first started out, later enrolling into our first cadet pilot programme. He’s chalked up enough flight hours since and will soon embark on a course to earn his fourth gold bar - to become captain.

Despite all that has been unfairly put before us we will still do our bit to change people’s lives; this note is testament to that.

Hi Boss,

I hope that this email finds you in good spirits and good health.

As I compose this email, I can’t help but smile as I reminisce about the transition from where I was to where I am now, and it would not have been possible without you.

When I first joined AirAsia as one of your pioneer customer service agents, I never ever thought I would someday fly an airplane. After a couple of months in customer service, I eventually moved to the purchasing department where I learned so much and I really enjoyed every minute of it. The opportunities for career advancement in AirAsia is beyond doubt above all expectations.

I also want you to know that things are looking up for me, and after years of flying as a co-pilot , I’ve been given the opportunity to excel further. I’m now in the midst of doing my command course, and if all works well, I’d soon be your man on the left side of the cockpit.

I hope you have a great day boss, and do keep up what you do best, which is to continue doing wonders for the company.


Warm regards,

Literally …“Keeping my head in the clouds and feet on the ground” :)

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.

I put on a secondary school pinafore for our eighth annual dinner last week. It’s not that I like being in drag— although I hear it’s become a sort of past time for certain wacky CEOs – but we had a Back to School theme for which I had a colleague to help sort out a costume. She thought it’d be a riot. I thought I looked ridiculous. What can I say? I am too obliging.

It was the usual awesome acts, awesome food, awesome music and even more awesome lucky draw prizes. Every year at our annual party I am awed by how fast and how big AirAsia has grown. We had over 3,000 staff at the bash this year. I’ve lost count. I saw tons of new faces; young, bright and enthusiastic, asking me to join them for a Kodak moment. It was dizzying but always a wonderful feeling to know that more are sharing the AirAsia dream with such passion.

One particular moment really moved me to tears. I’m not one to cry easily. I’ve only shed tears, perhaps four times in my adult life – at both my parents’ funerals and when my two kids were born.

When we opened for business in 2001 we only had two aircraft. People were writing our obituary before we could even take off. Today we have 90 planes (and growing) and we’re crossing continents. ‘Tis a great feeling, confounding skeptics. So you can imagine how emotional it was for me when my staff put on a slide show of photos from the past eight years with Gloria Estefan’s Reach playing in the background. I couldn’t help but sniffle and choke a little. Trust the team at the culture department to tug at the heart strings.

I may be the face of AirAsia but in truth we couldn’t have become the world’s best without our incredible team of people. We’ve built a family of Allstars (that’s what we call our people) and a culture of great service, fun, passion, openness and integrity.

This coming year will be another challenging one. Sounds familiar, yes but it just wouldn’t be an airline business if it were smooth and easy. We’ll be adding more routes to the network and we’ll be focusing a lot more on people development and training because it is our people that will determine our future success.

Watching our Allstars rock the dance floor that night, I wondered what gave this lot their spirit. I realised that at AirAsia they feel liberated and empowered, something few companies in the world can offer.

From the beginning I’ve always wanted to make AirAsia a special place to be. Work needn’t be a drag or a chore and I think we’ve accomplished that to a large extent even though things aren’t always perfect. I’m quite sure our people are some of the most dedicated you will ever find. How else could we have won four awards this year alone? – CAPA’s Airline of the Year, TTG Travel’s Best Asian LCC, Skytrax’s Best Low Cost Airline and Brand of the Year at Media’s Agency of the Year Awards ceremony.

Well done Allstars! You make me proud to be part of such an amazing team.

Here's a letter which makes it all worthwhile. These were the ideals that started AirAsia and fired us with passion.

Dear Mr. Fernandes,

I would like to thank you and your airline for the wonderful service in evacuating us from Padang on Thursday October 1st, 2009. Myself and 30 others had been abandoned by Tiger Airways in an airport with toilets with no water (toilets choked and putrid), no air conditioning in the heat and humidity and the main ceiling of the airport which had collapsed.While the cowards at Tiger Airways left us behind, your airline, got us to safety, which we and our loved ones are all very thankful and happy about.What made this even more challenging, was that all ATM's, credit card facilities and money changing services were closed or not functioning.

We pooled our Rupiah to buy tickets on Air Asia, of which a couple of tourists got left behind to wait two nights at the Padang airport until Tiger airways finally returns (we hope for their sake). As i was on a business trip to Padang, I had additional rupiah to purchase two German tourists tickets on Air Asia to KL.Upon arriving in KL, we purchased Air Asia tickets with our credit cards to get back home to Singapore (the German tourist got their connecting flights in Singapore and were very relieved)I have written to the press in Australia and Singapore applauding your wonderful service, and i hope some good PR comes of this, as your Airline well deserves it.

Once again, thank you and thank you Air Asia.

We just do what we have to do to help people. We have many who constantly barrage us with attacks and put us down. But when you get a letter like this, it makes it all worth it. This operation to ferry loved ones in and those requiring help out is an ASEAN project. This is what ASEAN is all about, an airline run by ASEAN staff reaching out to an ASEAN community that is in need of help. The ideals that communities can unite beyond language and cultural differences and be globally responsible citizens are what drives ASEAN. This is evidence of how ASEAN can be so powerful in making a difference in all communities that we need to reach out to if we all work together.

Have been getting a lot of reactions on the net and by people on the street on the nation's involvement in the motorsports world of Formula One. Next week, I am looking forward to share my thoughts on why Formula One is important to Malaysia.

Well done to all my 8000 ASEAN staff. You have made an old man very proud. Keep being an All Star in your roles and in the lives of people you touch.

Am reflecting on Merdeka day. It has been a busy few weeks with Krispy Kremes introduction on our planes and announcements on Abu Dhabi and Chengdu. We are gearing up to pave the way ahead for AirAsia as a whole. Was just reading the comments on the post for the women pilots of AirAsia and it it dawned on me that not enough has been said about the other women of AirAsia. Just had to take time to say a few words on how we are dispelling the myth that in Asia, only males can dominate the business world and profession of importance and AirAsia is going to be that catalyst of paradigm shifts.

At AirAsia, this does not only mean women in our flight operations have a window to excel but it also extends to our women engineers as well. We have wonderful women engineers who also stand tall among their male counterparts and challenge the notion that certain jobs are stereotyped to certain genders alone. The women engineers do not take any shortcuts nor given any slack when compared to the men and they have performed admirably. Where required, they have been out in the field, grunting their way to excellence in a normally dominant male field and they have shone as well. This is proves that women too can achieve success regardless the playing field as long as they have been given the opportunity. They are living testament that defies the myth that only men can succeed in any career regardless of the physical demands or perceptions of the public in general.

These women who have chosen to be engineers but more importantly to defy what constitutes what a female can do are great examples of stories worth telling.

Engineering Apprentice, Izyan Syazwani Mahfuz.

We call her Syaz. And at just 21, she's setting a prime example in aircraft engineering. She left Petronas to dabble in aircraft engineering based purely on her love for aviation and in her own words, "Most importantly I want to enjoy every work I do, learn sincerely, and fulfill my dream ie to follow my father's footstep and become an engineer." This Ampang lass finds the most challenging aspect of her job is in working with guys under the hot sun and for crazy hours. And in this insane smile she actually told me, "But having fantastic and helpful colleagues, they don't really matter anymore.". Izyan is really into live performances and scuba diving and has shared her dreams with us for three years already.

Izyan lasted just one year doing her foundation with Universiti Teknologi Petronas before finding her calling and her way into AirAsia. She has proven to be simply a fantastic new recruit and for her to brave a lucrative alternative with another corporate giant and work on equal terms with men, Syaz is blazing her own engineering trail.

Engineer, Noorasykin Abd Aziz

Fourth among eight siblings, Noorasykin graduated from electronic engineering and just looking at her soar to her current heights is simply awesome. She's a volleyball enthusiast and definitely another great women engineering braving the demanding hours and physical exertions while all at the same time contending with men. And she has simply given us no excuse to doubt women being as capable or even more capable in a male dominated field. The reason she took up the offer? It was simply challenging.

The women of our senior management also stand out with our head of commercial, Kathleen Tan who is simply a woman general personified. Heading our commercial team, she has continued to play a prominent role in carrying the AirAsia flag high and continues to chart our commercial growth to stand among the world's best. Another woman who is a force to be reckoned with in our ranks is Aireen Omar who has been simply sensational in heading our corporate finance and garnering international awards in Islamic financing. Rafizah who's recently joined our ranks to head our ancillary income is also an excellent addition to the AirAsia family and a woman giant in her own right. These woman embody who and what AirAsia stands for which is a champion of equal rights and a platform of woman power and equality at it's best.

Why are we what we are? One of the reasons is that we practice meritocracy at every level where sometimes many Malaysian companies ignore what woman can contribute to the growth and sustainability of a company. We recognise this and were the first to allow the women of our cabin crew to retire at the same age as men. MAS, SIA and other legacy carriers do not share the same vision as us. We have been the first to have women pilots and we are going to chart new regions based on this belief. Not only that women power should prevail, but simply, that we are going places because we believe in making a difference with the best in any given field. Signing off by saying that women power absolutely rocks.

Merdeka is a great day for all of us and our nation. We are a proud 52 years old and I hope that Merdeka will also mean Merdeka to women, and to private businesses who compete with government linked multinationals (GLCs). It is my hope that Merdeka is to all irrespective of race, creed, colour, age or sex. In essence, more independence to all. Happy Merdeka!

On a flight back from London recently, I popped into the flight deck to say hello to the pilots. To my pleasant surprise I saw one of our up-and-coming female first officers, Shara sitting behind the controls. It's moments like these when I can't help but feel a bit like a sentimental fool. Shara is the first woman in Asean to fly the A340 and I'm really proud of her. Her achievement is a sign of our success at creating an environment of equal opportunity for women at AirAsia.

Hiring without prejudice against race and sex is in AirAsia's DNA. And I'm not just paying lip service to that ideal. Take a look at our top managers. Our Head of Commercial, General Counsel, Head of Corporate Finance, Head of Ancillary income and Head of Food&Beverage are all women.

Our gender neutral policy extends to roles out in the field too. Not many people realise that we were the first airline to extend the retirement age of female cabin crew to be on par with their male colleagues. I haven't seen other airlines in Southeast Asia changing their retirement policies. We may be sexy but we're definitely not sexist.

We were the first in Malaysia and I believe, Asia to recruit female pilots. To a lot of people this was quite radical. it is actually pretty darn cool too, if I do say so myself. It was great publicity for us and it boosted staff morale to know that they were working for a progressive company. But I assure you it was no publicity stunt. None of our girls would have earned their wings had they not passed the rigorous selection process. Safety knows no double standards.

We think it simply makes sense to practice meritocracy at all levels and I think it's short-sighted of Malaysian companies to not give more consideration to the very capable female work force.

Take flying an aircraft for example. I wonder why won't more airlines cast their hiring net wide to include women. I suspect this is just tradition that nobody feels compelled to challenge. In a way that line has been good for AirAsia as it means more in the talent pool for us to mine. When the industry was suffering from a pilot shortage we filled positions quicker by considering female applicants. You'd be surprised by the number of girls who dream of flying planes.

Piloting has absolutely nothing to do with physical strength, the only obvious advantage men have over women. Technical proficiency and aviation skills can be trained in anyone with the aptitude and this isn't gender defined. In fact, the bravado and machismo often associated with men is exactly the kind of trait that acts against being a good pilot. The qualities desired in a pilot are being able stay calm under pressure, being able to multi-task, confidence, capable of making solid decisions and trusting one's instincts.

Not quite the qualities found in a woman you think? Let me tell you about two women that will quell that belief.

First Officer, Ilyana Nazli Shah

Ilyana was convinced she would become a pilot after an invitation to sit in the cockpit during a flight to Langkawi for a family retreat. She was 16 when she took that AirAsia flight.

She enrolled in and qualified for the AirAsia Cadet Programme immediately after her SPM. A self- professed adrenaline junkie, Ilyana is one of our bright young sparks. At 23, she's been flying with us for almost four years, logged 2800 jet hours and become our first female pilot to fly the A330.

Being a pilot has instilled in her a sense of confidence, self-belief and responsibility. I feel very proud that AirAsia has given talented and determined young women like her such opportunities. Ilyana hopes that she and her female colleagues will eventually rise to management level and find a career as instructors in the academy. At AirAsia that wouldn't be impossible.

Senior First Officer, Shara Azlln Jalil

Remember that big question you're always asked as a kid? What do you want to be when you grow up? Shara's answer was a little unexpected of a girl. She wanted to be a pilot. Believing that was pretty much impossible in Malaysia at the time teachers and classmates would just smile politely each time she talked about her lofty dream.

For a while they were right. But that was before there was AirAsia.
After sitting for the SPM Shara set her sights on Japan to learn Japanese in the hope of studying aeronautical engineering. Her aviation dreams at least weren't over.
By the third month of her course her dad had told her of an airline willing to recruit female aviators.

Japan had to be for another day.

She immediately enrolled in the MFA and joined AirAsia after her private training.
"I chose AirAsia because it is a company that doesn't discriminate against gender and accepts that men and women are equally capable," she says.

Well said and how true.

Shara's now logged 2700 flying hours and earned the rank of Senior First Officer. But she still gets the sense from some men that she isn't as good as her male colleagues and it's a shame that even her instructor continues to be sceptical of female pilots. Of course she is no less qualified than the boys. Unfortunately, stereotypes persist. She reckons some men feel threatened by smart women and she's probably right. But I'm confident she'll make the rank of captain soon and you can bet I'll be the first male to salute her.

These are exciting times to be caught up in the race of technology tools. I’ve decided to use new media to hire staff for very exciting opportunities within AirAsia this time around. Heres your chance to get the job that people are asking for. There are now openings in the Ancillary Income department which generates revenue from credit card, insurance, food, duty free products, merchandise and services such as tune cards and other payment mechanisms. Tell me by writing in to me how you best fill these positions that I need. The vacancies and relevant job scopes are laid bare as below:-

Head of Ancillary Income

1. Marketing savvy
2. Able to lead a team of marketing and sales personnel
3. Have the creativity to develop new businesses and forsee opportunities for revenue expansion
4. At least 10 years working experience, preferably in Marketing in FMCG, Telecommunication, Banking or marketing related industries
5. Possess confidence and great presentation skills in engaging different levels of audiences
6. Able to crunch numbers through financial reports such as Profit & Loss statements and other financial indicators that reads the market patterns and demands ahead
7. Expect to work under great pressure as you will report directly to me and I expect results
8. Ability to have fun and party hard
9. Able to work in a team
10. Have lots of ambition to go places

Executive Ancillary Income

1. Marketing savvy
2. Develop new businesses at managerial levels by suggesting and pushing for positive growth in ancillary channels
3. At least 2-3 years working experience, preferably in Marketing in FMCG, Telecommunication, Banking or marketing related industries
4. Have great presentation skills in delivering key messages
5. Capability to develop ability to crunch numbers and derive value
6. Reports directly to Head of Ancillary

Merchandiser

1. Marketing savvy and able to think ahead on the developing trends
2. Able to source for and work on getting the best out of vendors and partners
3. Develop new businesses at managerial levels by suggesting and pushing for positive growth in merchandises that matches the overall ancillary strategy
4. At least 5 years working experience in a similar role
5. Have great presentation skills in delivering key messages
6. Reports directly to Head of Ancillary

Graphic/Merchandising Designer

1. Main duty to design merchandise and marketing collaterals
2. Eye for details and creative execution in ensuring proper messages are carried
3. Preferably with merchandising design experience
4. 2-3 years working experience in retail
5. Able to work with freelancers and scour the net for new designs and inspiration. Savvy enough to keep up with trends and with what people want.
6. Reports to Head of Ancillary Income

If you feel that you are the one, write in to me now at tonyfernandes@airasia.com and demand the job that you deserve. Live your dreams with AirAsia and work with me.

Despite the rain, nothings going to stop us. That's AirAsia. Many would have called a similar event off but we just found a way. The lesson is to never give up.

That's the AirAsia spirit.

PS. Isn't the plane beautiful?