AirAsia CEO to APEC CEOs: Invest in ASEAN, Invest in People

Doing business in the ASEAN region has a huge potential for APEC economies, said AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes Tuesday, as he invited businessmen from the Asia Pacific to invest in the Southeast Asian region.

At the APEC CEO Summit 2015, Fernandes recounted his own experience turning around a failing airline company into a successful ASEAN company with the help of his staff and their practical knowledge derived from working on their jobs every day.

When he and his partner started the company 14 years ago, they only had two planes. Now AirAsia has a fleet of 200 planes, each able to carry 2,000 passengers or a total of 55 million passengers every year.

Fernandes acknowledged that most AirAsia innovations, both products and processes, were suggested by his employees.

For instance, he initially resisted the ground crew’s suggestions to buy the machine that brings the luggage up into and down out of the plane, but as he himself did some of the heavy work (as part of his learning about airline operations), he became convinced that the expensive equipment was a necessity.

This active listening is a strategy that has worked for AirAsia, he said.

To match this strategy, Fernandes said he also dresses more casually to get AirAsia staff to talk to him.

Once, a dispatcher who left school at 14 approached him and told him that he has always wanted to become a pilot. Fernandes supported the boy and now, “he is one of the best pilots of AirAsia.”

Having his ear on the ground allows him to improve operations, he said. And these are just some of the ways he elicits points for improvement from his employees.

ASEAN AS A MARKET

More than having great workers, ASEAN has a potential market of 600 million people, slightly more than Europe’s population, Fernandes said.

“This is the ASEAN market and we have created an ASEAN company,” he said.

To cater to this market, AirAsia as a budget airline was conceptualized.

“We see enormous potential in Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia going forward, creating the ASEAN market,” he said.

Fernandes stressed that Asia Pacific’s biggest strength is its people — as a market and as human resource for companies.

“If we put people first, everyone wins,” he said. (PCOO-APEC Communications Team)