Most of the criticisms against AirAsia are being fuelled by prejudice and racism.
There’s no sober examination of the facts, evidence and proof.
AirAsia isn’t in the same position as Malaysia Airlines, for example. The latter has gone broke, for third time, and is being bailed out by gov’t funds.
AirAsia survives because of its revenue generating position. PN17 was created by the gov’t’s ignorance on the pandemic.
Apparently, Tony F did plead from the beginning that it’s possible for flights to operate normally as long as the SOP was followed.
The plea fell on deaf ears.
If the gov’t had listened to AirAsia, the hospitality sector would not have collapsed and imploded.
AirAsia no longer relies on aviation as its core business. If AirAsia stops flying, blame the gov’t’s response to the pandemic.
AirAsia Group has since become Capital A. It’s now a technology company i.e. working on innovations (new way of doing old things).
Technology comes from inventiveness. Inventiveness arises from creativity.
AirAsia, originally, wanted to be a technology company.
It had no capital. So, it’s focus was on asset management. That’s how it made money. Many people think AirAsia made money from the aviation sector. It did not. No one can make money in aviation from zero fares and RM50 fares.
AirAsia’s Strategy
AirAsia’s strategy was based on selling tickets in advance.
The cash generated helped with working capital.
It still had to fly the passengers who bought budget fare tickets.
AirBus gave the airline planes based on the advance ticket sales. European banks funded the plane purchases.
Some of these planes were leased to others. Some bookings were transferred for US$5m each to those who did not want to stand in line for new planes. AirAsia used to book 300 to 400 planes at a time.
The airline paid for its purchases as soon as possible and either sold the planes and bought newer models or leased them.
I did studies on both AirAsia and Malaysian Airlines for the university. Malaysian Airlines run by MAS has been replaced by Malaysia Airlines under MAB. – New Malaysia Herald
About the writer: Longtime Borneo watcher Joe Fernandez keeps a keen eye on Malaysia as a legal scholar (jurist). He was formerly Chief Editor of Sabah Times. He’s not to be mistaken for a namesake previously with Daily Express. References to his blog articles can be found here.
The points expressed in this article are that of the writer’s, and do not necessarily reflect the stand of the New Malaysia Herald.
Longtime Borneo watcher Joe Fernandez has been writing for many years on both sides of the Southeast Asia Sea. He should not be mistaken for a namesake formerly with the Daily Express in Kota Kinabalu. JF keeps a Blog under FernzTheGreat on the nature of human relationships.
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