There are people who talk about building empires, and there are people who build them from scratch. Tony Fernandes belongs firmly in the second category. I had the chance to sit down with the AirAsia co-founder at RedQ during the media briefing, where he spoke about risk, his leadership style, and the decisions that brought him to where he is today.
“Sometimes I should speak less and think more,” he says, without hesitation and without defensiveness. For someone who built a regional airline against every conventional odds, the honesty is disarming.
The Ecosystem Nobody Noticed
Ask Fernandes what AirAsia really is, and he rejects the obvious answer.
“Most companies already have an ecosystem, they just don’t realise it,” he says. “The biggest mistake is not looking deeply enough at your own assets.”
In his perspective, those assets were always there, data and brand. What mattered was interpretation.
Engineering did not have to remain confined to maintenance. Cargo did not have to remain operational capacity.
“People tend to play safe,” he says. “But growth comes from looking beyond your traditional business.”
For Fernandes, the shift is not operational. It is perceptual.
The 94% Nobody Saw
When AirAsia first started, there was immediate scepticism. Fernandes recalls it without embellishment.
“No one believed someone could go from the music business to starting an airline. I looked at the market opportunity, and I wasn’t scared. Only 6% of Malaysians were flying, that meant 94% had never flown before. So we went for it.”
“My leadership style is never to be afraid,” he adds. “I’m not someone who is afraid.”
Where others saw risk, he saw scale. Where others saw limitation, he saw opportunity.
“I’ve always taken risks,” he says. “Some calculated, some reckless. But I believe you create your own dreams by taking risks.”
Mentorship and people
Tony Fernandes has built more than a company. He has built leaders. Over the years, many within his organisation have gone on to become CEOs in their own right.
“I look for great communicators, people with passion and hunger,” he says. “I think we are successful because we have good people. What I’m good at is spotting talent and giving them a chance to grow.”
Yet, he is quick to acknowledge that leadership is never perfect.
Photo: Attiqah Solehah
“It’s not at all perfect,” he admits. “But I believe in supporting people when they make mistakes. I give them a chance.”
The Lessons That Cost Something
Fernandes is most revealing when he speaks about what did not work.
Formula One. Football. Expansion that stretched attention too thin.
Despite achieving success, he was surprisingly and brutally honest about one thing,
“The biggest lesson was focus, you can’t do too many things at once,” he says.
Then, he added, half in jest, “I’ve also had to work on my impulsiveness. I should learn to keep my mouth shut sometimes.”
There is no attempt to soften the admission. That is precisely what makes it credible.
Culture Above Everything
At RedQ, AirAsia’s headquarters, transparency is not aesthetic, it is structural. There are no closed offices. Visibility is constant. Hierarchy is softened by design.
“Culture is our most important asset,” he says. “Even more than our brand.”
For Fernandes, culture is not an abstract idea; it is built through people, and sustained through how they are developed.
“People are all about how we look after them, that’s culture,” he explains. “And it’s also about how we develop them. Developing leaders, developing CEOs. I said to my team the other day, this is the single most important team in the company. Even after I leave, that’s the core value of what we’ve built.”
Photo: Attiqah Solehah
“This is the hard asset of soft skills,” he says. “The brand, how we treat people, the learning culture, the sense of community.”
Watching the movement of people through the space, it becomes less a statement and more a lived principle.
What Comes Next
If he were to step outside aviation, Tony Fernandes does not hesitate.
“Healthcare,” he says, before widening the scope. “And education.”
The thinking, once again, is rooted in access.
“I’ve always believed in a low-cost model,” he explains. “In an ideal world, healthcare and education should be free. But at the very least, there should be something in between.”
He describes a system that sits between private and public, one that relieves pressure on governments while remaining accessible to the majority.
“If those who can afford private services choose to pay, it allows governments to focus on those who need support the most,” he says. “But there must be a middle layer, something affordable, efficient, and scalable.”
It is, in many ways, the same instinct that built AirAsia: identifying the underserved majority and designing a system around them.
“I’d love to disrupt healthcare and education,” he adds.
Humility and Perspective
In a region defined by bold ideas and even bigger personalities, Tony Fernandes has managed to lead without making the story entirely about himself.
For him, the answer lies in something deceptively simple: staying grounded.
“It’s very important to remain rooted in where you came from,” he says. “Not to believe you’ve suddenly become something extraordinary.”
Humility, he adds, is not just admirable, it is essential.
“The thing I respect most about successful people is humility,” he says. “We all came from somewhere. We mustn’t forget that.”
More importantly, success should not create distance.
“You must always allow people access to you,” he explains. “So they can believe they can do it as well.”
Among those he admires, he points to Richard Branson, a figure he describes as both successful and grounded.
“He’s simple,” Fernandes says. “Not arrogant at all.”
A Final Lesson
When asked what he would tell his 20-year-old self and, by extension, the next generation Fernandes does not overcomplicate the answer.
“There is no substitute for experience,” he says.
But experience, he clarifies, is not measured purely by time.
“You don’t need 20 years,” he adds. “You can gain a lot in two, if you’re paying attention.”
What matters more is restraint.
“Don’t be in a rush. Be patient,” he says. “Don’t think you know everything. Learn more before you take on bigger things” he says.
(This is the original article written by Attiqah Mohd following an exclusive interview with AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes at the AirAsia Media Briefing held at RedQ. This work is the intellectual property of the author and must not be copied, reproduced, or republished without prior permission and proper attribution)
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