What a momentous day it was for AirAsia & AirAsia X yesterday. We are humbled to have been jointly awarded the prestigious Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Airline of the Year Award for 2009 this year at the CAPA Aviation Awards for Excellence presentation ceremony, held at the Great Wall Sheraton in Beijing, China.

We can only thank each and everyone of you out there who has supported us through the years, and grow together with us every moment of the way. We only look forward to continue doing our best, ensuring that all of you will have more great stories to share with us, and about us.

“From 2 planes to 80 and from 200,000 to over 75 million passengers in just a short 7 years marks unprecedented growth by any airline globally, let alone a low fare airline like AirAsia. We are deeply flattered to accept this award and this shall further bolster our pledge – to provide superior services coupled with our low fares plus diverse service options to our guests. This is our promise,” he concluded.

The CAPA Airline of the Year 2009 award is deemed the uppermost level of recognition given to airlines for excellent achievements in the aviation industry and outstanding strategic contribution over the course of the past year.

Our Group CEO, Tony Fernandes was awarded the CAPA Legend Award (Aviation Hall of Fame) for 2009 for shaping the way the aviation industry has evolved, along with Dato’ Seri Bashir Ahmad (Managing Director of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad), Ray Webster (founding CEO of EasyJet), Dr Cheong Choong Kong (former Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Airlines) and Maurice Flanagan (founding Vice Chairman, Emirates Airline) who were previous winners of this award.

Many more things that you can look forward to from us, such as new routes, greater network, & groundbreaking lie-flat bed seats next year! :)

Achieving this might not have been easy, but this is proof that if one dares to dream the impossible, believe the unbelievable & never take no for an answer... all things are possible.

Let's continue to make more dreams come true :)

1. The biggest challenge is believing in your own self that you can DO IT

Many congratulated me after recently completing the full 42.2 km marathon in Gold Coast and regard it as a major feat. My friends would say that they can barely run 5km. I was like that too a year ago. I would feel burnt out after the occasional 3km run on the treadmill in the gym. But I plunged into this marathon, committing myself to the race and dreading it as the date approached. One month before the run, I completed a 21km run which left my legs in a complete jello state. The thought of having to run twice that distance was horrifying.

The race day itself was very eye-opening. I saw MANY senior citizens, from Aussie grandmothers to Japanese grandfathers, overtaking me to complete the full marathon. I saw overweight runners who still completed the race, while several seemingly lean and muscular runners quit the run midway. Running a full marathon is not limited to those of a certain age or physical size and strength. Anyone can do it with adequate preparation and training. A 74 year old man and a 60 year old woman completed the race in 3.5 hours!

Similarly in business, many believe they do not have sufficient experience or education to run their own business or to take on a senior leadership position. Yet, there are countless examples of college drop-outs who became successful entrepreneurs and CEOs. The biggest hurdle to overcome is building up the willpower and self-confidence to “just do it”. As they say: ‘If you think you can, then you can. If you think you can’t, then you definitely cannot’.

2. Begin with a clear end in sight

Another common factor is the importance of setting clear goals and targets. With a marathon – commit yourself by registering for a race and booking your flight tickets and hotels to the venue. This makes it more difficult to back out. Then, plan and commit to some intermediate targets. For example, start by signing up for a 10km race, followed by a 21km half-marathon. There are many ‘marathon training’ guides available on the web. Once you’ve plotted your milestones and have a definite target in mind, it becomes easier to sustain your momentum and interest. Achieving intermediate milestones also help to boost your self-confidence.

In business, there are many ups-and-downs, challenges and distractions that can side-track you from achieving your goals. A clear vision is imperative to ensure that you ‘stay the course’ and dedicate your time and resources on the initiatives that will best help you take your business towards your destination. When we launched AirAsia X, we set very specific goals and celebrated each milestone that marked progress towards the big goals. We set ourselves to achieve US$1 billion in revenue within 5 years because economies of scale is very important in the airline business. We celebrated intermediate milestones when we hit our first $1 million of revenue, our first $10 million, and our first $100 million.

3. Teamwork works!

Trying to prepare for, and run a marathon by yourself would be an incredibly lonely and pointless exercise. Its the same running a business. Doing it as a team adds incredible richness to the experience, makes it more fun, and you feed off one another. There were about 20 of us in the AirAsia Running Club that went down to the Gold Coast. We trained together and motivated each other. Even during the race, Qabie, Kate and Juswil helped to push me along, especially in the final, painful 10km stretch when your body wants to rebel!

I’ve had the opportunity to work in businesses across many different industries. The single biggest determinant of success and job satisfaction was always from having a solid, reliable team to work with – to share a common vision, solve problems together, and create and develop new ideas together. Its very lonely at the top otherwise and its easy to develop narrow perspective when you’re the only decision-maker and you don’t benefit from rich, diverse inputs from good teammates who are reliable, trustworthy and share the same passion. We would not have made it this far at AirAsia X had I not had incredible support from an amazing group in my management team. Very diverse in industry experience, age and backgrounds, but united in our common vision and commitment to each other.

4. Its a marathon, not a sprint!

A race strategy or plan is vital for a successful marathon run – unless you’re physically gifted that you can just run fast for the full 42km! For most normal folks, it is a real test of endurance, and mistakes can easily lead to failure to complete the race. The first part of the plan is to be aware of what one’s physical capability. Can you comfortably run long distances at a 6 min/km pace, a 7 min/km pace or an 8 min/km pace? How do you prepare yourself at the start of the race (how much to eat and drink, how much to stretch and warm up)?

Many people fail to complete a marathon, or fail to achieve their target times because they’re not prepared. A common mistake is to run fast at the start, especially because one gets caught up in the excitement of the race and wants to ‘keep up’ with the race leaders.

During the race, two important elements are “pace” and “mental tenacity”. Its very important to be aware of your running pace and think about whether you’re running too fast or too slow. A good timing watch and kilometre markings are key. Mental tenacity makes or breaks your run. After 30km, most runners start to “hit a wall”. That’s when the body wants to rebel after a lot of lactic acid build-up. It comes down to ‘mind over matter’.

These are critical in running in business too. The biggest problems in business arise when a company is operating at a sub-optimal pace – either too fast (without sufficient resources deployed) or too slow (allowing competitors to move ahead). One of the biggest roles for a CEO is to determine the right strategic pace, mobilize resources accordingly, and then drive the organisational tenacity to overcome the inevitable difficult periods of implementation.

Remember Rule #1: Believe that you can, and ‘just do it’!

Sign up for some of these marathon races throughout the year:

Virgin London Marathon – April
Kuala Lumpur Marathon – June
Phuket Marathon – June
Gold Coast Airport Marathon – July
Borneo International Marathon – October
Melbourne Marathon – October
Hangzhou Marathon – November
Taipei Marathon – December
Singapore Marathon - December

With Rob "Dec" Decastella, Australian Marathon Champion and Ben Southall, Best Job In The World.

When I heard the news that AirAsia is going to sponsor the NFL Oakland Raiders team, I thought it was cool. But not more than that. That's it. Until I saw the new A340 which has the Oakland Raiders livery parked in the hangar. It was really cool. I guess it was more than cool.

I started to google and learned a little bit more about the team. As a sportsperson myself - anything to do with team sports - I get a little bit excited. Luckily for me, in that particular week, the day they held the launch ceremony was the only day I had no class to teach. Immediately I informed my boss to get her permission to attend , and yeay!!! Green light!!!

The launch itself was simple but exciting. Personally I love basketball and if it was the Lakers , I might have jumped on them!! I don't even know how American football is played but I have always loved all the movies about the game such as "Remember the Titans" as it provides motivation to my players. And here I was, seeing and meeting the Oakland Raiders,a famous American football team from the US, is something that I have never dreamt before.
After the launch, we visited the aircraft and had a photography session with the Raiders, and I thought that would be all.

So what came up next? This was the best part - Priya from Corporate Comm called me and informed that Tony was bringing them for a visit to the AirAsia Academy!! I was really, really excited! I couldn't help myself smiling from ear to ear and I was practically 'bouncing' and 'jumping' everywhere in the office, feeling excited. Why? Because usually if there is any visitors to the Academy, I would be the one who would bring them for a tour. Yes!!!

The big boss himself brought the group and lead the tour, which includes Mark Davis , the owner of Oakland Raiders, 3 Raiders legends: Ted Hendricks, Rod Martin and Cliff Branch ( really huge guys) and 4 sexy and beautiful Raiderettes ( their famous official cheerleaders!!) We went into all the classrooms and also the simulator ride.

The Raiders Legends

Tony and the Raiderettes in one of our training room.

It was an AMAZING and UNFORGETTABLE experience being with them and getting to know them. My boss and colleagues asked what was so special about it that makes me so excited. Everybody seemed not being able to capture the feeling that I had.
This is how I see it : Even if you have the chance to go to the US, and you have the chance to watch them play live at the stadium, you might not have the chance to get close and personal with them! And I had a great moment learning basic American football from Ted Hendricks himself!!

With Mark Davis and the beautiful Raiderettes.

The whole experience was definitely an experience of a lifetime and thank you to AirAsia to let me be part of this great team ;-)

p/s: Maybe I should start to dream meeting the Lakers!

Xanadu Calling: Name a Plane and Get your Name on a Plane!

It all happened in March when AirAsia Blog started this competition in conjunction with the delivery of their new planes. Out of boredom I decided to give the competition a try, having gone through words with “ex” prefix, I decided to nominate, “xcellence”.

As fate would have it, AirAsia X did a tie-up with US based NFL Football team The Oakland Raiders and coincidently, their motto was, “commitment to excellence”. Hance, the name that I gave, was chosen for the new plane, an Airbus 340 was painted in a radical Oakland Raider livery, complete with football players on one side, cheerleaders on the other, and spotting an eye-patch no less!

9M-XAC is the second Airbus 340 for AirAsia X, this comes after the first Airbus 340, “xcalibur” made headlines for providing passenger better and low cost option for the KUL-STN (London) route. Now with two long-range aircraft, AirAsia X is able to provide daily flights to the city of London.

Words could not describe what I felt the day I attended the launch of AirAsia X latest plane, to have my name on a plane of a truly Malaysian born company was indeed an honour. As if that wasn’t enough, I was presented with a return ticket to any of AirAsia X’s destination. There is no guessing where I will go. LONDON here I come babe! What a wonderful experience it was!

To top things off, I had the opportunity to brush shoulders with famous celebrities and even strike a pose with the Raiderettes! Oakland Raiders official Cheerleaders! What a blast that was! To Azran Osman-Rani, it was indeed an honour to meet with you and thank you! To Fara, Daisy and Yvonne, thanks for everything! You guys rock! To AirAsia and AirAsia X, keep flying high! You are truly the pride of Malaysia and Asia!

Take care and god bless!

Love,
Kenneth Chong.

No, it wasn’t my first time to London, but it was the first time flying into the UK capitol on AirAsia X, and as an added bonus, it was the inaugural flight too!
Yes…I was one of the lucky people on board ‘Excalibur’, the Airbus A340 bound to Stansted just a few weeks back on March 11. VIPs included the deservedly proud CEO of AirAsia X Azran Osman-Rani, Asean secretary-general Dr Surin Pitsuwan, British High Commissioner to Malaysia, local and regional media including representatives from Australia, Thailand and China and a few other invited guests.

After speeches were made in front of a large mock up of Big Ben and the houses of Parliaments, local musicians, and London guards then paraded the VIPs to the holding room before we were all guided to the plane with more music and cheering from our other excited staff (with maybe just a touch of jealousy!).

The flight took off on time and it ran as smooth as silk (well if not the Flight Attendants certainly didn’t let it be know there were any hic ups!). Now…I have been on a number of long haul flights and usually the passengers settle themselves down, plug in their head phones, watch film after film, or read their books or sleep….but the true culture of AirAsia shone through on the flight, and there was almost a party atmosphere on board. I guess everyone was just as excited to be on the inaugural flight, which sparked up conversation between themselves after meeting earlier over the coffee, tea, sandwiches and scones we served to them at the departure hall before boarding. And another difference was the lack of built in TV screens (although you could purchase hand held entertainment systems for a minimal fee of rm30/6GBP). Some people thought this would be a problem on the 13 hour flight but in fact I think it added something different to the flight – and more people were talking to each other.

It was actually the first time I had flown to London direct. I usually go through Dubai or Abu Dabi with other airlines which tend to be cheaper than the direct flights and I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the flight went. In between chatting to my ‘plane buddies’ I also managed to watch the recent Oscar nominated film Australia, and some classic TV series such as House, America’s Next Top Model the UK hit, and the revolutionary UK sitcom The Office.

The time flew by and suddenly the captain announced that we were soon to be arriving into Stansted. After landing a good 20 minutes early the plane taxied through two fire trucks spraying water over the plane before we were all greeted by AirAsia flight attendants waving British and Malaysian flags, and wearing their smart red coats to bear against the chill of the English weather. Amongst the big welcome committee also stood Group Chief Executive of AirAsia Tony Fernandes and none other than Prince Andrew himself!

The media and VIPs were speedily escorted to the Radisson Hotel beside the arrivals hall where press conferences were held and celebrations were made for the historical, ground breaking event that had just taken place; that Long Haul could be low cost AND high quality, and that AirAsia had become the gateway to Europe for not only Asia, but also Australia.

The celebrations continued that evening at Altitude 360 situated on the banks south of London’s Thames River with approximately 300 invited guests; even the Prince popped along to join in the party!

Thanks were given to the staff at Stansted airport for all their support, and a commemoration made to Laker Airways. Not only is Sir Freddie Laker Snr’s name painted on one of our planes, but his son, Freddie Laker Jnr was awarded free flights for life on AirAsia in recognition for his father’s profound affect on the Airline industry. Stars were also there to join in the festivities; UK pop group The Saturdays performed a number of their hit songs, as did Malaysia sensation Jo Flizo and the jazz artist Sheila Majid.

All in all it was a day and night of rejoicing – and everyone was revelling in the victory that AirAsia had done it; they had dreamt the impossible, believed the unbelievable and made it to London. And I for one consider myself extremely lucky to have been a part of it.

Now I can go back to the UK more often, and what I’m even more excited about is that my family and friends can come over and visit me in Malaysia and take the fantastic opportunity to travel and explore all of what Asia has to offer through the ever growing AirAsia network.