Leadership of Tony Fernandes Essay

Today, he has fulfilled all three of his childhood dreams and he attributed this to dreaming big and having the courage to pursue his dreams. Despite having no prior experience in the airline industry, he still went ahead to acquire an airline. With regards venturing into an industry he had no prior experience in, Tony Fernandes said, â€Å"It really was a little bit of stick your finger in the air and hope for the best.† [3] It is evident that Tony Fernandes was not a man who was afraid of taking risks and this can be illustrated by many examples. Acquiring a company that was heavily in debt coupled with having zero experience in the airline industry was seen as a risky move on his part. In fact, he mortgaged his home to purchase the airline for one ringgit, which was accompanied with $11 million of debts. [4] In addition, at that time, the airline industry was not faring so well either because of the 9/11 terror attacks. [5] Despite all the odds stacked against his favor, he still had the courage to pursue his dream, which is indeed admirable. Even if running his business, he is unafraid to take risks and be the first one to try new things. Venturing into the low-cost carrier industry was a risky move on his part. While low-cost carriers had been pretty much established in North America, Ireland and U.K, as well as most Europe, many of the airlines in Asia were still affluent, well-established and often, state-owned airlines. This risk, it would seem, paid off in the end as evident in the fact that nearly a fifth of the Asia’s airline seats are now supplied by low-cost carriers. [6] He is also one of the first CEOs to harness the power of social media networks to sell tickets and market his airline. Air Asia is considered the first airline in Southeast Asia to introduce e-ticketing system, bypassing traditional travel agents. This saved the airline USD 8 per ticket for issuing physical ticket. [7]