Tony Fernandes CEO Blog

I have been travelling quite a fair bit lately and once in a while I receive letters like this and it really makes it worth while.

Thank you Andrew Ciseau of Brisbane, Australia. I’d also like to hear from you out there and help us make it better for you.

Good afternoon Tony,

My name is Andrew Ciseau from Brisbane, Australia, and I am writing to you to provide some feedback on my recent trip on AirAsia and AirAsia X.

It has been just over 3 years since I last travelled multiple legs on AirAsia, and I must say I am impressed with how things have changed.

The biggest thing I think you have achieved is consistency of product and service. My flights from Gold Coast, KL, Langkawi, Penang, Singapore and back home again were all of a high standard of customer service, as well as travel experience. Everything from the plane décor and food were consistent, which for a traveller is very comforting when visiting new places. This is in stark contrast to my last AirAsia experience which started with the old IT system which was anything but user friendly, and didn’t get much better after that. However it is good to see just how your product can shine once you have all of the ‘backbone’ infrastructure in place and settled down.

One thing I would suggest is that you start marketing yourself in Australia as a Low Cost, but high quality service airline. The LCC offerings in Australia, have had customer service levels driven to the lowest common denominator, which in my opinion has tainted the LCC market here. Your product is not in the same league as these LCC carriers, so you really do need to get the message out just how far your product has come. After my experience, I would not hesitate to travel anywhere with your carrier given the outstanding value it represents when compared to a full service legacy carrier, and the service offering was more than adequate. People need to know why this is.

To be fair, there is still room for improvement in some quarters. Like all airlines and airports, Terminal information screens are vital, particularly for visitors from overseas. I noticed many of these boards were slow to update, and in some cases passengers lined up at gates for boarding, when the aircraft was in fact delayed, but no announcements made, or screens updated. These are the little things which should be getting done right. Technology means that as soon as the arriving aircraft departs, electronic messaging means someone, somewhere knows how late or early it will be in most cases, it doesn’t take much to publish this information on displays.

Also, on the whole I am not a fan of the KLIA LCC terminal. On your first visit you are simply overwhelmed by the size of the place, the different location of check-in areas, and odd signage and counter numbers. I don’t have any particular suggestions for improvements, however it just seems to be harder than it needs to be.

On the whole I am very excited about the future of your airlines, and the competition and services you provide to Australia, and beyond. I am not afraid to tell people why this is.

I thank you for your time.

Regards,
Andrew Ciseau

I’m back to F1 mode now with Silverstone cracking this weekend. We are half way through the season and I must say it’s been interesting few races for us here at Team Lotus.

Our beautiful car The Silverstone track walk

Let’s start with few highlights of my joy - Heikki reaching Q2 on merit and strategy in Barcelona was a phenomenal feeling for the whole team, and we are pulling away from our closest challengers. We also had our best result of the season so far on the streets of Monaco, which is the most famous and glamorous race of them all. Both our cars came home with Jarno and Heikki finishing at 13th and 14th respectively in the race, which was a very strong finish for us.
I had always thought that it’s hard to measure and articulate how far the team has come, as all other teams are progressing too. But Graham Watson, our Team Manager, helped explain the team’s progress in no uncertain terms and in an unambiguous manner that made me awestruck! He said: “simply look at our pit stops last year; for example, we were 7 or 8 seconds for every session, and we were generally quite happy with that; Now we are pushing for 3.5 to 4 seconds every time, and have consistently been achieving quick stops.

Jarno Heikki doing his track walk

This is unbelievable and rightfully so considering we’re up against teams who can spend half a million dollars on their equipments and training with more experience than team lotus, and still we’re right up there – at Monaco we delivered the 10th fastest pit-stop in the entire Grand Prix, which is no mean feat, but that just goes to show how far we’ve come in one area of our team. That is just pit stop; Zooming passed finishing line, we have done it three times this season and finished ahead of one of the cars of the established teams. It is a big challenge for us to find the 0.5 seconds that will propel us towards the midfield teams, but we have the right elements in place to achieve this; that is the team members.

Me & Riad Our Beauties

People have always been ‘key’ to my belief in success; I believe when you put them in the right place and give them the right tools, tremendous potential will explode. I am confident in my team that we will be World Champions in the not too distanced future, so I want everyone in Team Lotus to feel a part of that growth and to expand with it. Giving people opportunities, trusting in their capabilities and giving them confidence to realise their potential have been my style of work and this has brought about great achievements in my other business.

All in, we will definitely get there. We just need to make steps in the right direction and keep moving albeit small steps so long it’s the way forward; to grow in a measured, controlled way that gives us the best foundations for future success.

In terms of off track news, we’ve had some very productive developments for the team. Firstly we signed an agreement with Williams to make use of their wind tunnel, which doubles our abilities to test aerodynamic packages. At the moment the team have to travel back and forth to Italy, and while we will maintain our agreement with Aerolab, this means that more of the team will be able to actively and effectively work on the various tests so crucial to the development of our car. We’ll start utilising it properly in September, as our team grows and more staff come on board.

As I’m sure you know, Frank Williams has always been an incredible inspiration to me; it means so much to be able to work alongside his team and I feel proud to be working to the same level as someone who sparked my dream. We’re not far behind the Williams on track, still chasing, but we will not stop progressing.
For those of you, who are coming to Silverstone this weekend, cheer for Team Lotus!

Hi guys, I would like to apologise for another slack moment on my part. The past 3 months have not only been hectic but erratic. There was a period of 10 days or so that I actually circumvented the globe not once but thrice! Phew…

However, I must say it has been the most fruitful 3 months of my life. And, I would like to share with all of you insights of each event here starting on my recent trip to Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.

The brand new Airbus A320 NEO that will paint the sky RED!

Some of you might have read that AirAsia has concluded at the Paris Air Show the largest ever Airbus deal by number of aircraft as well as the largest ever order for aircraft in the A320 family worth US$18.5 billion. This order makes up of 200 firm orders of Airbus A320 NEO aircraft. Together with the existing 175 firm orders of Airbus A320 Classic, AirAsia is now recognized as the world’s largest airline customer of Airbus in history with an order of 375 A320 family aircraft to date.

As much as I am surprised, I’m extremely proud at the same time to learn of this. This is an important milestone in our growth, and this solidifies our position as the world’s best low-cost airline. I can still recall we first penned an order with Airbus for 40 A320 Classic aircraft back in December 2004; 6 and half years on, we increased the size of order more than 9 folds. This is incredible and a tremendous achievement for an airline that is only 10 years old. With the promising growth of our sister airlines in Thailand and Indonesia and the upcoming Philippines and Vietnam operations, I believe AirAsia, as a group, have the capacity to take up to 500 aircraft. This is backed by the continuous growth of the number of passenger we have served, from an annual passenger volume of 200,000 when we first launched as a low-cost airline in 2001 to an estimated 31 million this year.

At this juncture, I would like to attribute all honour flowing from here to my loyal and faithful management team that is ever ready in embracing innovation and technological advancements.

With the introduction of the Airbus A320 NEO aircraft, guests of AirAsia can look forward to more exciting routes over and above the 130 routes over 63 destinations in South East Asia, China, India and Australia via Bali, Indonesia that AirAsia is flying to. This is made possible by the enhanced range of this new-generation aircraft. I’m sure my route planning guys are now having a ball of time identifying destinations that are beyond the 4 hours’ range (a limitation placed on the A320 Classic) for once! This new generation of Airbus A320 NEO aircraft will definitely put us ahead of the competition and continue to be frontrunners in the ever volatile aviation industry.

Aside from the commercial benefit of enhanced range, the decision of taking up the A320 NEO aircraft is also to fulfil one of my personal crusades. Comes with large sharklets wing tip devices that boost fuel efficiency, which will enables savings of approximately 15% in fuel consumption per annum per aircraft also meant a reduction of carbon footprint by AirAsia aircraft in a world now that is already plagued by numerous natural disasters of late.

Enough said, I guess the best way to share is still visual appreciation as with the famous song goes “a picture paints a thousand words”:

Din, me and Tom Enders CEO of Airbus; and at the side are John Leahy Commercial Director Airbus and Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz Chairman of AirAsia X

Din, me, Tom and John

A cool picture of the AirAsia and GE team; me, Amin, Chris, Aireen, Kevin, Azhari and Stuart

I've been reflecting on a lot on the Lotus journey; the highs and lows, the setbacks and the sweet victories. It has been quite and emotional journey for CEO Riad Asmat as well so I've asked him to share his thoughts here.

When two worlds collide

It’s funny that this is what it seems like at this moment. Don’t worry it’s not depression setting in nor is it a depressing story that I am about to tell but more of what is going around me as an individual with some form of benefit of experiencing two similar working worlds within a span of six years. The first five being in an aspiring national automotive car producer and the last year in an aspiring formula one team.

Let’s dial back a bit to when it all began. Sometime in July 2009, I landed on a very peculiar but interesting project when I was with Proton. I guess with my little bit of know how and as a solution provider in my role there, my then leader decided that I should play a part a little project. Lo and behold, this little project was called the Malaysian F1 Project and the people behind were Tony, Kamarudin and Nasa.

An interesting project at that point as I was at the time, already contemplating leaving Proton as I believed that as part of the turn-around team we had done all we could (two of my closest team members had already left by then as well). Anyway, the brief given to me was work with them, and assist where possible in their attempt to get the final entry into the F1 world championship. I then had the taste of working with true entrepreneurs, and with Tony to boot, “can we get it done – yesterday”, “let’s go for it”, “I’ll make the call”, “its not over till its over”, etc. etc. Hahaha…A huge departure from the culture of a GLC – not an entrepreneur’s favorite word – but I was where I was.

So we plodded on, worked on the entry, submitted the entry and waited. I wasn't sure if we had done enough. The waiting period then allowed me to go back into my GLC mode, quite safe I must say with multi-level approvals, numerous papers to be done, run through, etc. Yes, some peace at last only to be broken when I received a call whilst I was out with my kids for dinner one night.

This I recall clearly and fondly to a certain degree of course, “Yo my man, its Tony.”

I replied in my most gracious GLC way, “Yes, Dato’ Sri”.

“We freakin’ got it! We’re in, we’re in F1, we’ve got the final slot.” Needless to say, he was estatic.

I immediately congratulated him and his team but one thing that always stuck to me during that conversation was that Dato’ Sri thanked me too. Now, I’ll be honest getting a thank you from where I came from was a rarity especially from the leaders (sorry, it’s the truth and if any of the leaders are reading, ask everyone around you to verify especially the ones who were closest to me over there) so as unnatural as it may have been, I actually felt quite good and happy at the same time.

A couple of days past and I was invited to attend the official announcement by the Prime Minister. There was now a team in the world championship with about four people then. A huge task at hand but nevertheless in my very short experience of working with them, anything seemed possible. I wished them the best and headed back into my little world. Quite serene I must say, we were re-strategising plans as well as focus, a new Chairman at helm, some launches in foreign markets, the usual stuff and yes, not to forget my family vacation.

Weeks passed, and during my vacation I received a call from Tune’s corporate communications asking me for my attendance at the Singapore GP. “Huh?” was my thought, then the insistence that I should be there came and my then leader said the same to me to see what was happening, etc. So, I accepted the invite and found myself in a hospitality area in the Singapore GP where I was greeted by Tony, Din and Nasa. It was a good celebration of sorts with them making a statement of being there the following season. Eyebrows rose, queries all around, curious thoughts, predictions, etc. Welcome to the world of F1!

Fast forward, I then was offered the CEO role from the shareholders and the first hurdle I faced was my own self to be honest. Choice then, GLC comfort zone or into the unknown? I didn’t take long though and made the jump. Looking back at it all, I have no regrets. Work quadrupled overnight, stress levels tested on a daily basis, learning curve as steep as it could be but again no regrets. Continually I am still learning but with guidance from the shareholders it’s been an eye-opener, challenging (ups and downs) but a fun ride thus far. Well, enough with my start but I had to share with you all that I was in a Proton, worked on its turn-around with the Leader, experienced the ups and downs but had the opportunity to move on.

Where the worlds collide

Firstly, the similarities, both dealt with cars. One you build over a minimum of 24 or 36 months (re-badging you can do within 18 months at the most) while the other in 6 months. Both have consumer related wants and needs although one more on expectations (the F1 one of course). So actually, it’s not much different except for the speed of things that needs to occur. I have now seen it all and I would like to focus on what happens next for us and although I had thought my ties were long gone when I left Proton then, theirs.

These last couple of months has probably been the most challenging in my role as the CEO of the team due to the sudden decision of my former company deciding to end the licensing agreement (on very trivial grounds I must say), the external attempts to destabilise our team’s well-being, the rumour mill continuously being fed by irresponsible people (we were going bust and will stop racing by Singapore). Nevertheless, true to our spirit, numerous stairs were climbed, doors went through, lifts taken to the highest levels there were and all in the name of truth and fairness.

What have I learnt? That success breeds uneasiness and at times jealousy. You guys may think I’m crazy but it’s the truth and the truth sometimes hurt. My favourite is this one in the maze of things “they’re not successful, they’re at the back, we can do better than that”. News flash! We went in with set expectations, else even I would not have risked my comfortable GLC job if I didn’t think so. It was a very simple, straightforward and transparent set of objectives; this will be everyone’s favourite bit (well almost) - “KPIs” were there.

Simply put: Best of new teams, 10th Placing in the Championship and a Professional Outfit. Oh and by the way, we did all these in our very first year! Sure we’re at the back but if you look at the history of some of the other teams, some didn’t even have finishes in their first ten races when they started. We raced our hearts out at all 19 races with the odd Q2 popping out and the best finish of 12th in one race. We’ve been consistent throughout with numerous milestones achieved.

Furthermore, in the course of the season, we also created another first when we put Nabil Jeffri into our car for an aero test session, making him the youngest F1 driver and the 3rd Malaysian F1 Driver. He more than held his own in completing the full day program for our team. His participation is a clear indication of our stated goal of developing young talent in motor sports. Fairuz Fauzy plied his trade as our third driver in our team, gaining invaluable experience in an F1 car. In addition, we now have seven Malaysian engineers working in our team in various roles such as aerodynamics, CAD design as well as stress analysis. Each of them play a prominent role in the cars’ performances this year, as well as in the cars’ design for next year. Other positions such as finance and marketing are also filled by Malaysians playing prominent roles – in line with our promise to provide talented Malaysians with opportunities on the global stage in a very competitive environment.

We’ve given Malaysia an F1 team to cheer on, we have delivered on our promises – getting a Malaysian-owned team in the Championship, providing opportunities for talented Malaysians, resurrecting a brand and making the nation proud. We have demonstrated our sincerity, our commitment and our professionalism throughout this season. We are even more determined now to continue on this journey that we have started where we are fully committed to make the world sit up and take even more notice of Malaysia – and what Malaysians can achieve.

For next year, with the new Redbull Racing back-end (gearbox & hydraulics) and the Renault engines, we believe we can propel the team into the midfield of the Championship from the beginning and improve further throughout the season.

One year on and more to come, thus, personally I really think it is most unfair when some parties (mostly misinformed) use the lack of performance as the main reason why we shouldn’t be who we are or where we are. But as I’ve learnt again throughout my very short working life is that, it is the way it is sometimes which is very unfortunate. We tend to prefer bringing people down through exposure of flaws rather than supporting or working together. Such is life sometimes.

Now, we find ourselves in the midst of sorting out unnecessary matters but as more news swirl around what our former partners are about to do or have actually done, it made me step back and think a bit on the challenges that they themselves face on their side. I really can’t imagine how hard it can also be over there especially when they were still aspiring to be a ASEAN automotive player, looking for a partner to help achieve that notion (need for knowledge transfer, technology transfer, new market penetration to name a few), turn around their sports car subsidiary, re-positioning their brand, well literally the whole works.

Old habits die hard so I’ve continued to follow them through the news, friends, etc. and since then, they themselves have had missed opportunities with partners, re-starting with former partners, re-kindling possible relationships with once selected partners, new approaches to product developments, quality, etc. That’s a whole lot for one to handle in one go, so I emphatise and at times sympathise with their predicaments. Furthermore, stories on their push for consolidation of the local automotive industry must also be taking a toll especially on the notion of having to prove one’s worth versus the others in the market who seem to be in front and are already doing very well in the market.

How similar it is to my side of the coin? Very much, because everything has to happen at once and time seems never being on one’s side. Of course the trick to it all is to have a plan and objective but more importantly, people to make them happen. I think they can do the same if they put their minds to it, and not get distracted which unfortunately can occur easily when one becomes complacent and rely too much on outside assistance. In analysing what is happening, I hope they don’t get too distracted with being in F1 because as mentioned earlier they have a lot on their plate already. Also, just as a note from my year of experience in F1, it’s a lot of money to invest in, takes up a lot of time, nothing is for free and if you don’t have a clear objective than best to stay clear.

Anyway, there will be people who will claim or state who am I to give advice to them; except that I actually do feel responsible in one sense as I did play a role in the turn around over there (blood, sweat and tears were shared then). At one point, in my view; although a small chance, if they really want to be part of F1, maybe we could have rekindled the relationship and see if we could work together again. It would have been less of a gamble, two Malaysian entities working together to reach greater heights and best of all ‘free’ (well almost – except for the one year sponsorship which was about 1% of our total budget). In addition, we are guaranteeing progression for next year – we won’t be at the back but we’re realistic enough to also say that we won’t be world champions either, yet! Made sense right?

Truth be told, whilst in discussions, they opted otherwise and all I have to hope now is that no one falls into the trap of complacency especially towards convincing promises made by others. People may sound convincing and promise the world but trust me it’s really not everything. We have done our very best in just our first year (some will discount the “best” parts but I really don’t care at this moment) and we are going to do more next year as it was always planned to be so and our duty is to ensure that we stick to the plan and execute it.

Everyone has seen what we’ve done for the brand – there’s nothing negative about it for sure – and the best part, we were actually free for some parties! The true Malaysian way, no? But don’t worry too much about us, we’ll do fine for next year. It’s understandable as described earlier that they themselves have a full plate already. Nevertheless, F1 can be a costly bet for anyone and I think it's always better to hedge one’s bet as I've also learned that failure is not an option in this game especially in the eyes of the people and the world.

I can only assure one thing though, from my point of view, no party will push us around on what needs to happen to us in the next few weeks, months or years. We are in control of our future and plans are in place to push ourselves further. Heck, we hope to spring a few surprises for sure and will again compete with the best there is next year. Either way, we’ll see anyone and everyone on the track and see who is the team to beat.

Call me if anyone likes to chat further and have a free moment, anytime ...

Lotus returns to F1 and a rebirth at Cosworth. Just to share some videos and pics during this time off before heading to Jerez on Wednesday. An extremely proud moment for Malaysia and it's a sign of things to come.

A prosperous year ahead and it's going to be a rocking start to a great lunar year to boot. Happy Valentine's Day and signing off with love.

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!