What would it be like to avail the services of a rival brand when you are an airline CEO?
It is just another day of boarding the flight for AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes.
You may think flying on a rival carrier would not be something for an airline CEO to crow about on social media. That is not how Tony Fernandes thinks.
The boss of AirAsia says he had to travel on Singapore Airlines because his own planes were sold out.
He shared pictures of himself boarding a Singapore Airlines plane along with the view from his seat.
A return economy flight between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where AirAsia is headquartered, and Singapore costs about $70 on the budget carrier. The same flight on Singapore Airlines typically costs $60 to $130 more.
Tony Fernandes’s seat seems to be located inside the economy class. His post tickled the funny ribs of several of his followers. One Instagram user wrote that it was so refreshing to see the CEO of a private airline respect his customer bookings and not find a ‘corporate’ method to shuffle some passengers around.
“Good choice you won’t miss your flight now!” quipped one user. Another wrote: “Don’t lie Tony. Even you don’t wanna fly airasia.”
Earlier in October, the entrepreneur got into trouble after thinking all publicity is good publicity, after he posted a shirtless photo of himself getting a massage at work on LinkedIn. He had praised the work culture at AirAsia in a LinkedIn post, which allowed him to get a massage while on a remote meeting.
The post that was since deleted sparked debate over whether it was appropriate, with some users slamming it as unprofessional and uncomfortable.
Fernandes took the helm at AirAsia in 2001 after acquiring the then-failing airline from the Malaysian government. It became Asia’s fourth-largest airline under his management, until the pandemic struck and sparked the bankruptcy of its Japan and Thai operations.
AirAsia did not respond immediately to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Taking to Instagram, the entrepreneur revealed that he was not able to book a seat in AirAsia, and hence opted to fly with Singapore Airlines flight. Sharing a picture of his seat inside the plane, Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, the parent company of AirAsia, wrote in an Instagram post published on Wednesday, “No seat on @flyairasia for three flights so had to take @singaporeair. Hehehe.”
Tony Fernandes took charge of AirAsia in 2001, after acquiring the airline from the Malaysian government. Under his deft leadership, Air Asia became Asia’s fourth-largest airline service, until the Covid-19 pandemic dimmed its annual profits.
The airline which shot to fame for being affordable has been named the world’s best low-cost carrier for the past 14 years, by the airline review site Skytrax.
Some however, poked fun that he must have got to experience better quality seats on Singapore Airlines.
AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes claimed that he had to take a flight on 5th December on “rival” Singapore Airlines (SIA).
There were apparently no seats available on his own company’s flights, he said in an Instagram post.
Likely took economy class
Fernandes shared a photo of himself on an airbridge, which was apparently taken right before boarding his Singapore Airlines flight.
Based on his second photograph, it appeared that Fernandes booked an economy-class seat, attracting mixed reactions from Instagram users
Reactions from Instagram users to his post were mixed.
A fellow passenger who claimed to be on the same flight as Fernandes, commented, “Sat two rows behind you, nice to see you even though we didn’t [make] any conversation.”
One user praised Fernandes for flying with a competitor to respect his customer bookings without finding a ‘corporate’ method to shuffle some passengers around.
Another commenter called Fernandes’ post a funny but genius marketing strategic campaign.
