Management Princicples Assignment - Airasia

INTRODUCTION

The topic that we have selected for our Management Principles Assignment is contemporary leadership. Contemporary leadership is distinctive leadership that uses its own traits to motivate subordinates by achieving the goals that are set by them. The reasons why we chose contemporary leadership as our topics is because the leaders and collaborators that must have common purpose and mutual influence in order to reach a higher level of motivation  and achieve a ‘real’ change which is what the company desired. We are very interested in the common purpose and mutual influence, what could they all strive for which made them all work together? This question motivated us into doing our research on this form of leadership.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

What makes us option for Airasia Berhad rather than the popular choice of Malaysia Airlines is that having the uniqueness of being affordable to everyone sets this leader up in his own level of value, it is because of its leader’s personality which successfully turned Airasia into a well-known International Airline. Tony Fernandes has inspired us to select this company in which he has the transformational leader’s skill to change Airasia Berhad into a low-cost airline.

Before AirAsia became a multibillion-dollar aviation juggernaut, it was a small, struggling airline owned by the Malaysian Government. Tony Fernandes bought from its Malaysian owner DRB-Hicom. It consisted of nothing more than two aging Boeing 737 jets, 250 employees, and one route. Not to mention $40 million of debt. Together with several partners, Fernandes took control of AirAsia from the Malaysian government in December 2001. He paid 29 cents and assumed the airline’s massive liabilities.Taking a cue from Southwest Airlines, Fernandes built his airline on cheap fares, quality service, and quick turnarounds for its planes. The airline quickly reached profitability and remained in the black. 

Airasia Berhad was established on 20 December 1993 but the operations only started on 18 November 1996. It has been recognized as the low-cost airline headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Airasia Berhad group operates scheduled domestic and international flights up to 100 destinations across 22 countries. Its main hub is Klia2, the low cost terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia which controls the departures and arrivals of the flights. Airasia have 6 alternatives of domestic travel to different states which are in Penang, Kuching (Sarawak), Senai (Johor), Langkawi (Kedah) and Sultan Ismail Petra (Kelantan). Airasia Berhad has its own subsidiary (Airasia X) that emphasizes for providing long–haul routes to its customer. For instance, Airasia Berhad  have affiliates various airlines especially countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and India and by spanning effective flights, Airasia have increased its hubs in Don Mueang International Airport, Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Kempegowda International Airport respectively. The co-founder of AirAsia Berhad is a Malaysian Entrepreneur who calls himself Tan Sri Anthony Francis Tony Fernandes.