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I will never forget ‘the good and bad’, says Tony Fernandes

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Vowing that he will reward those who stood by him during Covid-19, the AirAsia co-founder says he will also remember those who ‘dropped him like a hot potato’.

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PETALING JAYA:
The biggest lesson that AirAsia co-founder Tony Fernandes has learnt from the Covid-19 crisis is knowing who your friends are, and that he will never forget them even long after he is “buried 6ft underground”.

Answering a question on what was the biggest lesson he had learnt from the pandemic on BFM’s Breakfast Grille yesterday, he said these friends were both positive and negative, adding that the 90% of the passengers who chose to keep their money in credit accounts instead of demanding for refunds were amazing.

“You know who your friends are. We will never forget how we have been treated by certain people, certain companies, we will never. Great partners are those with you when you are in a tough time.

“There are partners who made so much money from you for 19 years, and then drop you like a hot potato, and start wanting to sue you and send you notices. I am going to remember them after I am buried 6ft under. And I am going to remember the people who stood up for us. I am not a fair-weather friend,” he said.

Paying tribute to those who opted to keep their refunds in a credit shell, Fernandes assured them that they would get their money back but he did not give a specific deadline.

He said the biggest support was from these passengers who were understanding enough to give the airline a chance to survive.

“Our gratitude to these people who said ‘don’t worry AirAsia, we want you to survive, we will use that credit later’. These also included people who are struggling, and that is an amazing thing for 90% to say okay.

“I don’t have a big benefactor shareholder who can top up and do the refunds, we have to be real about our survivability now,” he said.

He said money does not “grow on trees” and if everyone asked for their refunds, the company would go bust. AirAsia, he said, also has large amounts of money owed to it, citing the US$200 million (RM800 million) tied up in Airbus.

“I like to cancel the order and get my money back. I have money tied up all over the place. We have been transparent, we have been open, I have been abused, we have answered questions, no one has been transparent like us.”

Fernandes said those owed money can soon spend their credit on food, hotels and buying groceries, adding that AirAsia’s new ecosystem will make this possible.

“We are also thankful to the leasing companies and other creditors who have supported AirAsia which includes some banks, they have been amazing.”

Insisting that the low-cost airline business model was still viable and the same despite the setback brought about by Covid-19, he admitted that he never thought in February 2020 that they would not still be flying in June this year.

“I thought I have seen everything, every crisis. So anyone who says they were prepared for Covid is talking rubbish. I learnt that having more cash is always a plus.”

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