Newsmakers
Fernandes pondering career change?
September 1st 2015
Are the demands of the airline business wearying AirAsia co-founder and chairman, Dato Tony Fernandes? Read More » It seems unimaginable, but when he was asked in an interview last month if he would consider moving on from AirAsia, the 51-year-old serial entrepreneur told the Bangkok Post “my time is coming. Maybe in the next two years.
In the interview, done in Jakarta, Fernandes did not say what he might do after AirAsia, but expressed a keen interest in leading the Asean (the Association of South East Asian Nations) Secretariat. Fernandes has criticized the body, which oversees a 10 nation regional bloc, especially in relation to standardizing airline oversight, crew qualifications and safety regulations between member countries.
Fernandes has said “good leadership is to know when to go and to refresh the organization with young and energetic leaders”. He would not talk specifics about a successor, but said the appointment of Aireen Omar (42) as chief executive of AsiaAsia in 2012 was part of the process of bringing new people to the airline’s leadership and preparing for his departure.
AirAsia has had a difficult year. Last month, its Malaysian arm reported a second quarter profit of 243 million ringgit (US$64.3 million) compared with a 367.2 million profit for the same period a year ago. Fernandes said the low fuel price had helped counter the decline in the ringgit for the quarter. “The Group has hedged 50% of its fuel at US$88 per barrel this year. We remain unhedged for 2016,” he said.
