See bigger picture, not 'sexy' AirAsia skirts, politicians told

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes has urged politicians to start looking at the bigger picture when it comes to the female cabin crew uniform.

“If you really want us to go global, and every politician says so, then support us and look beyond our shores and our cultural sensitivities,” he said, responding to the issue for the first time today.

He said the uniform - a red suit with a short skirt - was actually designed by the crew themselves and was chosen as it had “universal” characteristics.

“Being a big brand attracts detractors, not everyone will love us,” he said today during the Global Malaysia Series organised by the Performance and Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu).  

Criticism of the outfit has been raised several times in Parliament by politicians on both sides of the divide, who feel that the skirt is “too short” and the uniform is too “sexy”.

Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had, in a written parliamentary reply, said that airlines can choose their own designs, but that the government would ask AirAsia to reassess its uniform. 

'Let my son fly for you'

Mostly candid during the forum, Fernandes was put in a awkward position when a member of the audience asked that Fernandes allows his son, who has failed to get a job as a pilot, to fly for AirAsia for six months. 

“I will pay his salary for six months if he can fly for you,” said the father, who claimed to have flown from Kuching on the red-eye to be at the event in Kuala Lumpur today so he could make the appeal.

He said his son, who trained in Kuching and is now a part-time bartender, did not pass the test for AirAsia or Malaysia Airlines and truly wants to fly a wide-body plane. 

To this, Fernandes said that “there are no shortcuts” in life and that at one point, people should stop relying on “the government or father or mother” for help. 

“Pilots also have lives in their hands,” he said, stressing why tests are required.  

Graciously, however, he asked the man to email him so he could give the son another shot at the test.