Tan Sri Tony Fernandes
KUCHING: AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has apologised for his “grave error of judgment” in coming up with a video endorsing former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Barisan Nasional (BN) aboard a BN-themed flight.
In a video uploaded to his Facebook account yesterday, he said the decision to come up with the Najib video was because he was put under intense pressure by the previous administration following AirAsia X chairperson Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz’s involvement in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) campaign and when the airline offered more flights with low prices to enable people to go back to vote during GE14.
“When Tan Sri Rafidah started getting involved in PH campaign through her social media and eventually ceramahs, I was asked to remove her as chairperson of AirAsia X.
“I refused to do so because I thought it was not the right thing to do. I was under intense pressure day by day as Tan Sri Rafidah started getting more involved in the campaign. As Tan Sri Rafidah’s impact and popularity grew, the pressure grew exponentially,” he said.
Fernandes added it was getting harder to resist the pressure coming from the Prime Minister’s Office, but he stood firm and never even mentioned to Rafidah to step down from the board of AirAsia X because he felt that it was not the right thing to do.
“The second point that led to this grave error of judgment was when the rakyat came to us asking for more flights and at low fares, I decided that was the right thing to do. I knew it wouldn’t be popular with the (BN) government but I felt as an airline, we had to serve the people.”
By then, he said he was aware people really wanted to go back to vote, hence AirAsia putting on 120 extra flights – which would have carried 26,000 people – on top of its normal flights.
“On top of that, we reduced the ticket prices to make it affordable – RM99 for flights in Peninsular Malaysia and RM129 for flights across the sea to East Malaysia. The rakyat was overjoyed and unfortunately, that put me under more pressure when it was realised by the (BN) government that we were ferrying so many voters.”
Within 24 hours after announcing the flights, Fernandes said AirAsia was summoned by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) and was told to cancel all those flights, which again put the company under tremendous pressure.
He said he had been under pressure many times before, having fought the authorities and regulators to ensure that more people can fly.
He explained that AirAsia is in a heavily regulated industry where almost everything – from flights to airport taxes to routes – require the approval of the government.
“So foolishly, I thought by doing the video, which I felt was fairly neutral and factual, and the (BN-themed) plane from Kota Kinabalu would appease the government and protect the jobs of All Stars (AirAsia staff) and more importantly, the essence of allowing 80 million people to fly every year with low fares.”
In describing AirAsia as “my baby”, Fernandes said that he is very proud of the low-cost airline because it has made many dreams come true.
“People who never thought they could fly; people who could never have returned to vote and then go back to work in a midweek; people who started with us carrying bags and are now pilots, or despatch boys who are now pilots; women who never believed they could fly (a plane).
“So, under intense pressure I buckled. It wasn’t right, I will forever regret it but it was a decision made at the spur of the moment to protect that baby that has given so much to Malaysia and will continue to give so much to Malaysia.”
Fernandes added: “I apologise once again for the pain and hurt I have caused. My views are very much the same as all your views. I believe so much in this new Malaysia, a Malaysia that will be just and fair, a Malaysia that has really reflected everything we built in AirAsia – meritocracy – a business that allows people to dream all the time.
“I will do my level best and put 150 per cent in to make up for this error of judgment and make sure AirAsia continues to allow dreams to come true and allow us to reach the true potential of what every Malaysian wants to be. We will do our best to play this small little part.”