A Tango With Tony Fernandes.

     It is steeped in legend that the great Chinese emperor Shennong once said, “Every story has a beginning. And it is within you to gather your Zen, align the body and mind, channelize your energies, direct your forces of action and write that beginning. And when baffled in one direction, a man of energy will not despair but will find another way to his object. It is only then that the body will act in harmony with the flows of the chi (the energies of the universe) and a story would be written, one which could transcend the annals of time. And a utopian state would result, in which the body and mind, side by side, would revel in utter bliss.”

     Despite the complex nature of Shennong’s words in the above quote, they do appear to hold several meanings, both apparent and hidden, all of which could be subject to multiple interpretations. Over the centuries, traders and caravans which treaded the Silk Route, and sailors and merchants who braved the stormy seas carried Shennong’s words far and wide. To this day, Oriental philosophers and scholars continue to puzzle over Shennong’s words and debate the exact meaning of the above quote. And there may be a good reason for all the confusion and controversy surrounding what Shennong apparently said. Several centuries have passed since Shennong walked the face of the earth and when his words of wisdom were passed on from one generation to the next, there would have been a fair degree of distortion. Furthermore, Shennong is revered as a cult hero in Chinese history and individuals tend to quote and interpret him in different ways. But there may be another reason, one which may be plausible and by far, the most likely. Perhaps those words were never steeped in legend after all. Perhaps Shennong never actually spoke those words. Maybe, just maybe, that quote was just an artful creation by yours truly.

     All the same, it doesn’t change the fact that every story does indeed have a beginning. And this story, just like any other, is no different. And thus, I gather my Zen and wonder where to begin. Maybe it’s time to turn the hands of the clock all the way back to the year 1996, when a 4 – year old, little punk kid with a semi – afro and three – quarters of a unibrow pressed his nose against the airport pane glass and watched in awe as a colossal Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 ‘Megatop’, decked in its classic blue – and – yellow livery with that instantly recognizable yellow flying bird adorning its tail, taxied past. And that boyhood fascination with aircraft, over the course of the following two decades, has taken on some interesting facets and has turned into a veritable passion. 

     Today, that same passion continues to be indulged in several ways, be it a keen interest in the global aviation industry, an ability to identify virtually any aircraft at a mere glance, an insistence on a window seat when flying or even a compulsion to check in for a flight at least 3 hours in advance, just to have the pleasure of witnessing endless take – offs and landings. But the most apparent manifestation of that passion would be a growing collection of scale model commercial aircraft, now numbering over 60. Today, that collection boasts numerous airlines from around the globe, aircraft of various shapes and sizes and even a few limited editions, such as a Lufthansa Airbus A340 ‘Football Nose’ special edition from the 2006 FIFA World Cup, a United Airlines Boeing 767 in the special ‘Star Alliance 5 in 1’ livery (an aircraft that was phased out years ago) and a pair of Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) MD – 80s (an airline that is no longer in operation), each numbering anywhere between 250 and 1000 pieces worldwide. It’s a fleet that’s both growing and expanding in size and variety. And that’s precisely where the runway stretches out and this story takes off.

     Despite a collection of aircraft models of various scales and sizes, representing airlines from around the world, a hunger to expand that very collection is almost never satiated. And that collection, though dominated by contingents from Singapore Airlines, Emirates and United Airlines, continues to proliferate. Of course, there are some gaping holes in that same collection, which sorely wants for a dash of airlines such as Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. There was another airline that, until recently, featured in that coveted list. So, at this point of time, I ask you. Have you ever heard of an airline that grew out of a little country in South – East Asia and went on to write one of the greatest success stories in the global aviation industry? In a brutally competitive industry, it has gone on to redefine the world of low – cost air travel and it is regarded as one of the pioneers. After having spawned subsidiaries in several countries, that very airline made a foray into India in 2014 and it has thrown down the gauntlet to domestic biggies such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir. And that same airline is helmed by one of the most charismatic and flamboyant men that the aviation world has ever seen. Incidentally, with its planes decked in red and white, that very same airline has, arguably, the sexiest livery in the airline industry.

     In the year 2001, Tony Fernandes, once a top honcho at Virgin Records and Warner Music, mortgaged his house and acquired the DRB Hicom – owned, debt – laden, 2 aircraft – strong carrier, AirAsia for the sum of 1 Ringgit. In the short span of a year, which is record – setting as far as airline turnaround stories go, AirAsia was back in the black and growing at a brisk pace. It soon hit the capital markets with a successful IPO. After the skies opened to flights to and from countries such as Singapore and Indonesia, AirAsia powered up its engines and began to expand. With the world’s lowest unit operating cost, it challenged behemoths in the South – East Asian markets, such as Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines and took the battle right into their home skies. AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines, at one point of time, even cozied up to an alliance, which was shot down by the Malaysian Government.

     From that point on, Malaysia Airlines' streak of unprofitability continued and exacerbated. The recent loss of both MH370 and MH17 has only made things worse for the Malaysian national carrier, which has now announced a major restructuring plan. While AirAsia's joint venture with Japan's All Nippon Airlines (ANA) fell apart due to clashes between the two managements, AirAsia on a consolidated basis has been profitable. And all along, Tony Fernandes has led the airline from the front, be it during its early days, its phases of rapid expansion, launching multiple subsidiaries in different countries and even during AirAsia's dark days following questions about its accounting practices and the Java Sea crash of the star - crossed Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501.

     AirAsia, however, is not Tony Fernandes’ sole business venture. Tune Hotels operates on its parent airline’s low cost and no frills philosophy. Tony Fernandes is the majority shareholder of Queens Park Rangers, an English football club, and the host of The Apprentice Asia, the Asian edition of Mark Burnett’s uber – successful television show. The Tune Group, AirAsia’s holding company, has diversified into insurance, telecom, sports and media. Tony Fernandes was once involved in FormulaOne as well, spearheading Team Lotus, under the Caterham banner.

     In what was one of the most newsworthy events in F1 history, Tony Fernandes and Richard Branson, head of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Racing, entered into a wager in which the individual with the team that finished lower in the Constructors Championship standing in the 2010 FormulaOne season would serve as an airhostess on a flight on the other’s airline. Ultimately, Fernandes won the wager, with Team Lotus finishing 10^th, as against a 12^th place finish for Virgin Racing. In fact, more was written by the media in that year about the billionaires’ bet than the amount of coverage that was given to Sebastian Vettel winning the individual Drivers Championship. In 2013, Branson kept his word and served as a stewardess aboard an AirAsia flight, even intentionally spilling orange juice on Fernandes, who rubbished Branson’s skills as a stewardess and promptly ‘fired’ him after the flight, the proceeds of which went to charity. Of course, till date, Sir Richard Branson continues to hold the record of being the shortest serving stewardess in AirAsia history.

     Today, AirAsia along with its multiple subsidiaries and associate airlines, such as AirAsia India, Thai AirAsia, AirAsia Japan, Philippines AirAsia, AirAsia Zest, Indonesia AirAsia and AirAsia X, is one of Asia’s largest airlines. The Indian avatar of AirAsia was born after the Indian Government opened up the Indian aviation sector to foreign direct investment with a 49% ceiling and AirAsia Berhad, the Tata Group and Arun Bhatia’s Telestra Tradeplace joined hands to conceive AirAsia India, with stakes of 49%, 30% and 21% respectively. With its hub at Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport, AirAsia India took to the skies in mid – 2014 with a single aircraft. Tony Fernandes quipped that it was the right time to enter India and while he wouldn’t have done so eight years ago, as the Indian aviation scene had ‘some crazy guys with too much money to throw away’, 2014 was a good time as ‘they had all lost their money’, an obvious dig at Vijay Mallya, Kalanithi Maran and Naresh Goyal of Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet and Jet Airways respectively. 

     AirAsia India soon expanded to 10 destinations, with a fleet of 5 aircraft. Today, while AirAsia India has a market share of a little over 1% and load factors exceeding 80%, it continues to bleed financially. Tony Fernandes has vociferously protested against India’s 5 / 20 rule, which stipulates that an airline must have 20 aircraft and 5 years of domestic operations before it can fly international, calling the rule bizarre and nonsensical, even going on to say that, “It was probably put in by Naresh (Naresh Goyal) or someone like that to protect themselves.” In recent news, the Tata Group has decided to hike its stake in AirAsia India to a little over 41%, by subscribing to the expanded capital of the company, to fund its expansion plans and word has it that the Tatas may even further increase their stake in AirAsia India.

     With such a storied past, AirAsia continues to be one of the world's most successful low - cost carriers and of course, any aircraft model collection without an AirAsia in it would be nothing to write home about. After multiple and varied attempts to acquire an AirAsia aircraft model ended in abject failure, I thought I'd take a shot in the dark and write to Tony Fernandes himself.

     After all, word has it that Mr. Fernandes, unlike most other CEOs, is very approachable. Writing to the owner of an airline for such a request may seem a tad unorthodox but it has worked for me in the past. In 2007, back in the day when Kingfisher Airlines was still… ahem… flying the good times and existential questions weren’t creating too much turbulence, I shot off an e – mail to the erstwhile ‘King Of Good Times’, Vijay Mallya. Well, that very same e – mail did generate a terse reply from the liquor baron himself, who promised to look into my request. After a series of e – mails with his associates, all that effort paid off and resulted in a Kingfisher Airlines Airbus A320 scale model, albeit a small one, joining my fleet. 

     Well, times have changed since 2007 and today, Kingfisher Airlines no longer flies the Indian skies. While Kingfisher was the poster boy, or should I say, the calendar girl of the Indian aviation sector in its heyday, AirAsia India is now considered to be the most exciting player in the no – frills space, the upstart that dares to challenge the might and dominance of IndiGo. Incidentally, since Kingfisher Airlines has fallen out of the skies, I could argue that the Kingfisher Airlines aircraft model in my collection is now a limited edition. A very limited edition. And now, that desire to procure an AirAsia aircraft model was almost overwhelming. It is oft said that where there is a will, there is a way and that way was making itself increasingly clear. I contemplated writing to Mr. Fernandes himself.

      Well, time is a precious commodity and I’ve beaten around the bush long enough. Perhaps it’s time to reach the crux of the matter. Incidentally, it is also engraved in legend that the great Shennong was not a fan of procrastination. That, however, is another story for another day. As they say in Hollywood, let’s cut to the chase. The following is a series of e-mails between Mr. Fernandes and I, which will take this story forward, all the way to the point of touchdown.

     Here’s how this story thundered down the runway and lifted off.

     And a mere three hours later, surprise surprise! To my utter delight, Mr. Fernandes’ reply had touched down and had nested in my inbox. 

     And Mr. Bahtiar Omar was good enough to take this story forward on behalf of Mr. Fernandes.

     And with that being said, in a few short days, an AirAsia aircraft model took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, landed at Singapore Changi International Airport for a short halt and took off again, bound for Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport. And of course, to throw a twist in the tale, DHL succeeded entirely in being a perfect nuisance with its trademark “Please hold. Your call is important to us” and requirements for furnishing identification proofs and letters explaining the purpose and end use of the contents of the package. Customs duty and a service charge too were levied on the shipment by DHL. 

     However, following a series of e – mails with the DHL staff, explaining to them that the aircraft model was a personal gift from Mr. Fernandes himself, the logistics giant agreed to waive the service charge, an indication of just how big a name Tony Fernandes is, in the world of aviation. When it came to the question of a waiver of the customs duty though, the Central Board of Excise and Customs wasn’t generous, to say the least. Furthermore, it took another four days to clear the package from the Kempegowda International Airport’s Cargo Terminal and a day later, an absolute beauty of an AirAsia Airbus A320, in a 1:150 scale, touched down.

     Unfortunately, by the time the aircraft model arrived, I was half a world away at Cornell University, NY. Believe me, just knowing that I had to wait three long, arduous weeks to get my hands on a gift from Mr. Fernandes himself was absolutely excruciating. But of course, for the moment, I wrote back to Mr. Fernandes to thank him for his kind gesture.

     And here’s what Mr. Fernandes had to say.

     Three weeks later, after a string of bus rides and flights, in a 33 hour window, brought me all the way back from ‘The City That Never Sleeps’ to the city that hits the sack by 1 A.M, Namma Bengaluru, I officially added an AirAsia Airbus A320 to my fleet and wrote back to Mr. Fernandes.

     And for one last time, here’s the reply from Mr. Fernandes.

    

     Despite being consumed by the world of finance, the latent marketer in me just couldn’t resist promoting my blog to Mr. Fernandes himself and sharing the link to the very blog post that you’re currently reading.

     And for one final time, thank you Tony Fernandes and AirAsia!

     Oh and speaking of tango, there's a new girl in town! And she's all red and white.