“In AirAsia we consider ourselves basically a dream factory…We
deliberately decided that we wanted a company where people can pursue their
passion and we wanted to make use of all the talent that we have
in-house. The culture that we have stems from the fact that we want
openness and we want people to be creative and passionate about what they do.
In order to do that, we’ve got to inspire them.”
Tony Fernandes
CEO and Founder
AirAsia
CEO and Founder
AirAsia
Credit:
Chris Forrest Harvey
About:
Anthony Francis Fernandes, better known as Tony Fernandes, is the perfect fit as the “ultimate dreamer and adventurer in business”.
About:
Anthony Francis Fernandes, better known as Tony Fernandes, is the perfect fit as the “ultimate dreamer and adventurer in business”.
In October 2001, Fernandes mortgaged his home and
used up his personal savings to acquire a heavily-indebted Malaysian
government-owned airline called AirAsia. Even after knowing that he was buying two
ageing Boeing 737 jets, 200 employees and $11 million debt, Fernandes went
ahead with his “purchase” as he was a risk-taker and a believer of making the
impossible possible. Fortunately, despite
his inexperience in airline operation, the former managing director of Warner
Music Malaysia was able to reform AirAsia into one of the most successful low
fare carriers in the world.
The secret to the success of AirAsia lies in the
recipe of great management style and unique culture which Fernandes has passionately
concocted. He works hard and finds
creative ways to create an environment for his “Allstars” (what AirAsia call
its employees) to continuously improve, learn and most desirably, achieve their
dream.
Dear Tony,
ReplyDeleteI don't think you deserve to be called a "hospitality leader" until Air Asia makes fair restitution of the following story.
Let me tell you my story. In June to August of this year my family and I are going from LAX to Singapore to Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia on the island of Borneo. On the 12th, now changed to the 13th of July, we will go from Kuching to Bali returning on the 18th. I will also be traveling to KL later in August before returning from Singapore to LAX. So I thought, like you, I would save some money and bought two ASEAN passes for 20 points which ran me around $590 U.S. I booked my flight from Singapore to Kuching on the 28th of June with no problems except I ended up paying around 100 MYR in fees once I paid for two extra bags, the airport fees (not included in the ASEAN Pass), and two premium seats. Hunky-dory--right?
Just today, I tried to buy from Kuching to Bali and back. Well, the site would not let me buy from Kuching to Bali so I first tried from Singapore to Bali, thinking to buy the Kuching to Singapore leg next. But on the 12th, when I tried to redeem points on the pass, the site said: "Hold on, no seat availability." So, I tried going a day later on the 13th and got the same response. I then tried Kuala Lumpur to Bali on the 12th, same response. Finally, I was able to redeem two tickets leaving KL at 8:30 on the 13 and arriving in Bali at 11:30, and returning on the 18th. A little less hunky dory.
However, I still had to purchase tickets from Kuching to KL going on the 13th and returning
on the 18th. However, this time I was locked into going to Bali on the 13th and returning from Bali through KL to Kuching on the 18th. No matter what I tried, it kept coming up with the same "no availability" message. So I called the nearest Air Asia office in Australia which I figured would be the most likely to be understanding. The Air Asia Rep. (from a South Asian country) informed me that these passes could only be used within 14 days of the flight take-off. Note that when I bought the pass I clearly understood that it was "up to" not "less than" 14 days. So I asked the South Asian person why I was able to book KL to Bali and back if things were as she said. She had no response, and when I asked to talk to her supervisor, she said that that person was "too busy" to talk to me. I should try the "Chat" option on the website.
Before I did that, however, I found out by checking the Air Asia regular search engine that as of today (5/15/15) there are at least two flights still with plenty of seating going from Kuching to KL on the 13th and at least 5 wide open flights returning from KL to Kuching on the 18th.
I had to wait for forty minutes to "chat" online with another South Asian, Air Asia rep. The gist of our conversation was that "no available seats" means that it is a high demand travel date (in this case the end of Ramadan is the 18th) and that those seats are being reserved for those willing to pay the higher fares. He didn't say the last part, but it does not take a genius to read between the lines. I asked him if he would be so kind as to refund the balance that I would not be able to use of my Air Asia Pass. "So kind"--not even close.
He simply said "no refunds" are possible. When I then insisted that he book my flight, he advised me to file a complaint form, and told me that my allotted time with him was about up. I rated our interaction as "bad and damaging to the reputation of Air Asia."
In the end I had two buy two tickets at the regular fare (without use of the ASEAN Pass) because Air Asia, after all is said and done, is still cheaper than the other options. Very un-hunky dory.
I intend to do everything in my power to: 1) make sure this does not happen to anyone else; and 2) protest, in any way possible, this rip-off.
Steve Krimmel