Turbulent times for Tony Fernandes

The AirAsia chief has now become the favourite whipping boy for bloggers and politicians

COMMENT

It’s that silly season again for character assassination. This time around it is Tony Fernandes of AirAsia. Publicity is publicity – whether bad or good. Whatever you say about him, he will still be Tony Fernandes.

Tony for starters, cannot be aligned with the likes of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his brother Nazir. So, it’s not the done thing to kick him just because we can’t get at Najib and Nazir.

Perhaps the perception comes from the sneaking suspicion that the AirAsia chief likes to dabble in politics. We are still not sure whether this will be his next big obsession after AirAsia, Tune Hotels, Tune Money, Tune Merchandise, professional soccer and Formula 1 racing.

Can we go so far as to say that Tony is the best prime minister Malaysia never had? He’s still very young and better looking and brainier than Najib .

Tony is analytical, calculative for a good cause and helps bring people together in business and fun. Nazir is not into politics. It’s purely business.

There was a time when local bankers would not touch Tony with even with a 10-foot pole. Put it down to prejudice and nothing else. Airbus came to his rescue and arranged the finance for him, billions of dollars, from European banks.

Nazir is now trying to make amends by seeking to service AirAsia’s financing needs. It’s better late than never. There’s no reason for Tony to get clobbered, in the alternative media in particular, just because Nazir is related to Najib.

Nazir is not the first of the local bankers cosying up to AirAsia. The local chapters of a couple of Arab banks i.e. Kuwait Finance House and Al-Rajhi Bank were the first. They have probably done more business with AirAsia than Nazir’s CIMB Group.

Many people believe that there’s more to it than meets the eye in Tony’s connection with Najib and Nazir. If so, it can only be because the two brothers are picking his brains.

The MAS deal

AirAsia’s share-swap with Malaysia Airlines via Khazanah Holdings and Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd, the result of the brain picking exercise, continues to be unpopular with many people and for different reasons.

AirAsia fans thinks the share swap will end in higher ticket prices . Others, led by the Malay media, think that the Malays will lose one of their companies to an Indian. This is where they are wrong. Malaysia Airlines is not a Malay company.

Malaysia Airlines is a government-linked company which has substantial government interest through Khazanah Holdings and Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad. It’s wrong to view anything owned by the state as Malay although many members of the community may work there.

Likewise Khazanah Holdings and Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad are not Malay-owned companies. Then we have people who have never flown AirAsia talking about the alleged failings of the airline under his stewardship.

Those who fly budget airlines know they are getting good value for their money. In return, they are prepared to put with little inconveniences like delayed and cancelled flights.

Cancelled flights are the logical result of the total number of confirmed bookings being less than economical. The only sensible approach would be to cancel some flights and re-distribute the passengers among the remaining number of flights.

As long as passengers leave contact details – e-mail addresses, mobile and fixed line numbers – with the airline, they make every effort to inform of cancellations well in advance i.e. even a month in advance.

So, it’s not true that AirAsia cancels flights without notice, leaving passengers stranded at airports. Such allegations could only come from those who have never flown AirAsia and who have nothing better to do than spew venom in their blogs. Put this down to prejudice as well.

Long running battle

Ticket prices on AirAsia remain as economical as before as long as one books as early as possible, pay up and fly late as possible. Otherwise, don’t expect cheap fares from AirAsia.

AirAsia, being a no-frills airline, does provide the frills as well but at a price. The airline is not forcing anyone to buy the frills. But one frill not available is the aerobridge.

So, it’s no use anti-AirAsia bloggers and Umno MPs whining, moaning and groaning about the airline making senior citizens walk to the aircraft, trudging heavy suitcases.

Senior citizens have no business trudging heavy suitcases at their age. This is where the airline has come with a wide range of fees for excess baggage fees including for unchecked baggage. Otherwise fuel efficiency will be affected.

The bottom line, it must be conceded, is that critics have a point when they keep stressing that Tony is too close to certain Umno leaders. This cannot be said to be a good thing for a man in business.

One area where all Malaysians are behind Tony is his long running battle with Malaysia Airports Berhad over their various charges. If he succeeds, and he doesn’t need to dabble in politics for that, all those who patronise AirAsia will benefit.