Tony Fernandes Is A Great Leader

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Nowadays, AirAsia is the best of the Asian airline companies in its market segment and became profitable almost immediately after Tony Fernandes took it over in spite of the air-travel downturn following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. These results can be only explained by the fact that Tony Fernandes is a great leader. First of all, his skills and personal qualities are those of a good leader.

He was entirely committed to his business (sometimes with a little humor) and was very accessible to the media; he wore AirAsia’s office red rap cap and official T-shirt to almost every official function, he gave his phone mobile phone number to all the media representative he talked to, and was himself advertisement for his company.

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Tony Fernandes has also had a good vision of the future because he was very realistic and he exploited the market’s opportunities well.

Although the context was not very favorable to enter the market, and especially in this field because of the 11th September, Fernandas chose to take the risk because he strongly believed in his project, which is a characteristic of a good leader. Another point that can prove this is that he was the first on the market segment of low-costs, no-frills and entered the market at the most profitable moment: nobody on the market segment in Asia and attractiveness for customers. So Tony Fernandes was courageous in this unfavorable context and he took his decisions in a very independent way.

These strengths are crucial to be a leader.

He did not take risks only by taking over AirAsia, but also in its drastic changes. Since the creation, he continually brought a lot of innovative concepts, such as online booking and check-in, travel insurance, holiday products, booking services for hostels, car rental, credit card or medical care. He also deeply changed the business model of the airline company is choosing a low-cost and no-frills strategy and moved down the value chain. Thanks to him, AirAsia was also a pioneer in the defense of environment, by fighting against carbon emissions and paper waste.

Tony Fernandes was also a good leader because he succeeded in convincing people to rally on his project, since the beginning. The acquisition of AirAsia by Fernandes was welcomed by the Malaysia government. AirAsia became the official airline sponsor of the world-famous Manchester United football club and the AT&T Williams Formula One team. ernandes. AirAsia was also implicated at the request of authorities but also on its own in tourism, rescue to cyclone-hit Myanmar in2008 and Sichuan earthquake recovery in China.

The number of rewards received by AirAsia is endless and this is a way to recognize the good job done by Tony Fernandes. He was also a great leader because his management and leadership styles led quickly to huge profits, whereas the situation was not very favorable. The productivity of the staff was superior to the quality in other airline companies in the market segment of low-cost (0. 33cost/ASK compared to 1. 18 for the others): it shows that people were encouraged, motivated and committed to the company policy.

Fernandes’ choices in investments such as new fuel-efficient Airbus A320 and new aircraft decreased the costs of fuel and maintenance. The cost of marketing was also lower because he was a recognized leader on the market and needed less money for marketing and sales because of the effectiveness of the distribution channel, which is another indicator of his good leadership towards employees. Purchasing aircraft also cost less than other companies because he knew how to convince suppliers and gain attractiveness.

People in the company were wholly loyal to Fernandes, which also proves he was appreciated and respected as a leader. As a result, Tony Fernandes was not only a leader, but also a great leader thanks to several aspects: his skills and personal qualities, his good and right vision, his independence, his innovative capability, his sense of convincing and making partnerships with trust, and the performance of the employees due to his good leadership leading to very good and quick results. Being a great leader means to have qualities and skills as well as results: Tony Fernandes showed he had both of them.

With AirAsia, he received accolades from international press and industry observers such as ‘Airline Business Strategy Award 2005 and Low Cost Leadership’ by Airline Business and ‘Asia Pacific Aviation Executive’ by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) for the year 2004 and 2005. In July 2005, he was conferred the Darjah Datuk Paduka Tuanku Ja’afar (DPTJ) which carries the title Dato’ by the Negeri Sembilan’s DYMM Yang DiPertuan Besar Tuanku Ja’afar Tuanku Abdul, for his services rendered to the betterment of the nation and community.

In 2006 and 2007, he bagged ‘The Brand Laureate’ Brand Personality for his exemplary performance, dedication and contribution towards the aviation industry in Malaysia. In 2007, he was bestowed the Darjah Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang (DSAP) which carries the title Dato’ by the Pahang’s DYMM Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Sir Abu Bakar Riayatuddin Al- Muadzam Shah for his services rendered to the betterment of the nation and community. In 2008, he was again honoured by the Sultan with the Darjah Kebesaran Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang Yang Amat Di Mulia which carries the title Dato’ Sri.

The ‘CAPA Legend Award 2009 (Aviation Hall of Fame)’ recognised his influential actions for directly shaping the way the aviation industry has evolved. The ‘Orient Aviation Person of the Year 2009’ awarded by Orient Aviation and the ‘Airline CEO of the Year 2009’ awarded by Jane’s Transport Finance was for his success in leading and growing AirAsia into the world’s best low-cost airline and Asia’s largest. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Business Innovation from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in March 2010 for his role in changing the face of aviation and benefitting travellers and economies locally and in the region.

He was honoured with the title of ‘Officier of the Legion d’ Honneur’ by the government of France in April 2010, for outstanding contributions to the French aviation industry. It is the highest rank of honour that the government of France can award to a non-French citizen. Already Mr Fernandes was thinking about applying the low-cost approach to long-haul—he even went to see GE Capital, to ask if he could lease a Boeing 747. But on the advice of Conor McCarthy, a hard-nosed former head of operations at Ryanair, he agreed to start with a short-haul business.

To that end, he approached Malaysia’s then prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, in June 2001 to see whether he would get official backing for his plan to challenge Malaysia Airlines’s local monopoly. The canny Mr Mahathir said that he would grant his blessing, but on condition that Mr Fernandes took over an existing airline: AirAsia, a struggling subsidiary of a government-owned conglomerate. AirAsia had a couple of elderly Boeing 737s, 40m ringgit ($11m) of debt and not much else. Mr Mahathir told Mr Fernandes he could have it for one ringgit.

The deal was signed just three days before the world’s airline industry was convulsed by the events of September 11th. By putting in the money from his Time Warner shares, remortgaging his home and bringing in a handful of outside investors, including Mr McCarthy, Mr Fernandes scraped together just enough working capital to run the business, but only if it could be made profitable from the first day. There was no shortage of sceptics. Not only did it seem to be a terrible time to be starting out, but it was also widely assumed that the low-cost model would not work in Asia, where customers expect high levels of service.

Mr Fernandes, however, reckoned that Asia would be spared the worst of the downturn and that he could take advantage of good deals on aircraft that other airlines no longer wanted. He was also convinced that the offer of ticket prices 50% below those of his rivals would speak for itself. So it proved. In its first full year of operation, AirAsia carried just over a million passengers. This year, with its associate airlines in Thailand and Indonesia, it expects to fly 22m passengers (or “guests”, as Mr Fernandes calls them). The number of destinations it serves has risen from six to 110.

With a nearly all-Airbus fleet of 80 aircraft and 175 more A320s on order, AirAsia has become one of the European planemaker’s best customers. AirAsia X, in which Mr Fernandes’s old boss, Mr Branson, has a 20% stake, wants 25 of the new A350s to add to the handful of A330s and the (London-bound) A340 it already operates. As well as the new London route, it flies to Australia, China and India. Unlike other long-haul budget operators that have crashed and burned, AirAsia X has the advantage of economies of scale with its short-haul sister airline, which also acts as a regional feeder network.

AirAsia has been profitable for all but the second half of 2008, when Mr Fernandes decided to unwind fuel hedges before most other airlines took the plunge. After taking an initial hit, AirAsia is now getting the full benefit of oil at $40 a barrel while some rivals are still paying $100. That decision is typical of Mr Fernandes’s willingness to break ranks. When other airlines slashed advertising during the SARS scare in 2003, AirAsia tripled its spending. Mr Fernandes says that he came to the industry with no preconceptions, but found it rigidly compartmentalised and dysfunctional.

He wanted AirAsia to reflect his own unstuffy, open and cheerful personality. He is rarely seen without his baseball cap, open-neck shirt and jeans, and he is proud that the firm’s lack of hierarchy (very unusual in Asia) means anyone can rise to do anyone else’s job. AirAsia employs pilots who started out as baggage handlers and stewards; for his part, Mr Fernandes also practises what he preaches. Every month he spends a day as a baggage-handler; every two months, a day as cabin crew; every three months, a day as a check-in clerk.

He has even established a “culture department” to “pass the message and hold parties”. Tony Fernandez has various type of leadership. We can see that from the background and the way he manage Air Asia, we can describe him as transformational and authentic leader. Transformational leadership is defined as a leadership approach that causes change in individuals and social systems. It is also refers to leader who inspire followers in many ways such as enhances the motivation, morale and performance of his followers through a variety of mechanisms.

It can be seen when leader is always connecting the follower's sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organization, being a role model for followers that inspires them, challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers. As the result, the leader can align followers with tasks that optimize their performance and at the same time it creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders.

Meanwhile, authentic leadership can be define as an individuals who are deeply aware of how they think and behave and are perceived by others as being aware of their own and others‘ values/moral perspective, knowledge, and strength; aware of the context in which they operate; and who are confident, hopeful, optimistic, resilient, and high on moral character. Authentic leader also transparent and fair, balanced decision maker. They demonstrate a passion for their purpose, practice their values consistently and lead with their hearts and their heads.

Tony Fernandez is said as transformational and authentic leadership because we can see that he done many things for his organization, staff, and also others people. He inspires his followers with his idea, action, attitudes and also the way he treats and communicates with person surrounding him. In Air Asia itself, he implements the concept of equal opportunity between his followers. This concept is for the purpose of giving motivation to his followers so that they can work in positive environment.

One of the equal opportunity is when Air Asia offers the opportunity to every qualifying permanent staff, from bag handlers to flight attendants, to become pilots after thorough training at its flight academy. Air Asia is the first airline that hires female pilot crew. Besides that, trainees are not bound by any rules to devote all their time to the airline like Chanaporn Rosjan, Thai pilot cadet in fact participated in a local beauty pageant and went on to win becoming Miss Thailand 2005.

Fernandes also has created a culture of teamwork, equality and constant communication like what he did at AirAsia‘s headquarters where it is staunchly open-plan. This aims to ensure staff of all levels are continually in contact with each other, enhancing the opportunities for innovative thinking and creative ideas. Beside of the concept of equal opportunity, there are a lot of factor that can describe Fernandez as transformational leadership and authentic leader. As a very good leader, Fernandez build a unique culture starts at the recruitment stage to create a successful team.

He also lays the credit for those successes squarely with his staff base, offers plenty in return in term of competitive salary packaging so that Air Asia can keeps it staff sticking with the company, happy, productive staff and staying ahead of business competitors. Transformational leader always has goal to develop his follower into leaders, so with that goal, Fernandez helps his staff in personal and professional growth. All staff of all designation and level is given training and development opportunities and pay close attention to high potential talent in the airline.

Contribution During the period he manages the company there are many contribution that he contribute. First, he introduce low fare no frills. This means that no frequent flyer miles or airport lounges in exchange for lower fares. Guests have the choice of paying for in-flight meals, snacks and drinks. Other than that, AirAsia also had point to point network that all short-haul AirAsia flights which is four-hour flight radius or less and medium- to longhaul AirAsia X flights are nonstop, doing away with the need for human resources, physical infrastructure and facilities at transit locations.

Moreover, Air Asia is very successful in using innovative technology. For example, they allow their guests to pay for their bookings by credit card over the phone. In 2010, AirAsia unveiled its latest IT booking innovation in the form of New Skies, which allows customers to better manage their online bookings. AirAsia also fully utilize the social media such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs to increase the customer relationship. AirAsia is ultimately a people’s airline. This show that management is truly cares about people’s needs.

For example, the airline runs an on-going Donate Your Loose Change campaign to help needy heart patients receive treatment at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur. AirAsia share the values of the communities in which they live, operate and with whom they do business. They practice the traditions and values that guide people daily lives. Beside that, they engage people through multiple interactive platforms every day, addressing their concern and resolving complains.

For example, in the workplace, staff are hired and promoted based on their ability and capabilities. Conclusion As a conclusion, Tony Fernandes is a great leader. His skills and personal qualities are those of a good leader. He was entirely committed to his business with a little humor)and was very accessible to the media; he wore AirAsia’s office red rap cap and official T-shirt to almost every official function, he gave his phone mobile phone number to all the media representative he talked to, and was himself advertisement for his company.

Tony Fernandes was not only a leader, but also a great leader thanks to several aspects: his skills and personal qualities, his good and right vision, his independence, his innovative capability, his sense of convincing and making partnerships with trust, and the performance of the employees due to his good leadership leading to very good and quick results.

Being a great leader means to have qualities and skills as well as results: Tony Fernandes showed he had both of them. Other than that, Tony Fernandez is said as transformational and authentic leadership as we can see that he done many things for his organization, staff, and also others people. He inspires his followers with his idea, action, attitudes and also the way he treats and communicates with person surrounding him.

In Air Asia itself, he implements the concept of equal opportunity between his followers. Fernandes also has created a culture of teamwork, equality and constant communication like what he did at AirAsia‘s headquarters where it is staunchly open-plan. This aims to ensure staff of all levels are continually in contact with each other, enhancing the opportunities for innovative thinking and creative ideas.