I had the pleasure of interviewing His Excellency, Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, and Tan Sri Dr Tony Fernandes, group CEO, AirAsia on stage in Amsterdam last week at the CAPA Aviation Awards of Excellence 2016 and while you couldn’t find more different personalities, I was struck by what they had in common.
Qatar won Airline of the Year for its innovative strategy in a dynamic region, becoming the first major Gulf carrier to join a global alliance. Over the last year Qatar has continued to make bold moves, acquiring an equity stake in LATAM and following up its earlier equity stake in IAG by pursuing a joint venture with British Airways.
Fernandes was recognised as Airline Executive of The Year for his decision to re-engage and adopt a more hands-on management style after a few years of focusing more on interests outside the AirAsia Group. Financial results have improved significantly in 2016 following an extremely challenging 2015.
- Both run airlines that did not exist 20 years ago. Qatar Airways turns 20 this year and has quadrupled in size over the last decade. It has a fleet of almost 200 aircraft with another 200 on order. It is now the third largest cargo operator in the world, from being number 20 four years ago.AirAsia, which commenced operations November 18, 1996, has become one of the region’s largest people movers , having flown a total of 60 million passengers. It has changed the way people fly and travel in ASEAN by creating a network effect where local AirAsia carriers in key ASEAN countries and AirAsia X feed into and across the region.
Akbar Al Baker: “They dismissed me.”
- Both were underdogs and had something to prove. Al Baker, who became CEO of Qatar Airways in 1997, spoke of how people dismissed him, and his airline – labelling it as having only “sand and money”. Now, he said, people were afraid of them, of their innovation and expansion. Fernandes has always made it clear from the outset his feelings about Malaysia Airlines, the incumbent, and never misses a chance to take a dig at Singapore Airlines.
![Tony Fernandes: “New guys like us are more adventurous.”]()
Tony Fernandes: “New guys like us are more adventurous.”
- Both are outspoken particularly when it comes to protectionism. Al Baker clearly feels carriers in the Middle East are being singled out “unfairly” by European and American aviation authorities. In his speech at CAPA, he said that protectionistic tendencies were coming into play. “What worries me is when you target the Gulf carriers and those in ASEAN and Turkey.” Fernandes said, “The old school guys – the only thing they know is how to block competition – the new guys like us, we are more adventurous.”
- Both believe in partnerships with “people like us”. Al Baker says airlines have more to gain by collaborating rather than challenging each other. It was the first Gulf carrier to join a global alliance, oneworld. Over the last year, it has acquired an equity stake in LATAM, following up on its earlier equity stake in IAG by pursuing a joint venture with British Airways. Al Baker hinted there would be more to come. Fernandes learnt lessons from his first foray into Japan when his joint venture with All Nippon Airways collapsed and now says “never work with another airline again. We tried, with Malaysia Airlines and All Nippon Airways. I think it’s better working with friends – (Hiroshi) Mikitani of Rakuten is more like us”. Among his partners in the new AirAsia Japan is the Rakuten founder. AirAsia’s joint venture with Expedia in Asia also came through his relationship with chairman Barry Diller.
- Both have a very clear vision and a single-minded focus. Al Baker wants to build a global premium airline, Fernandes wants to build Asia’s largest low cost airline. And that vision is clearly communicated to their team. Both believe that when people know where they are going, there is a resoluteness and purpose to their work.
- Both are just getting started. As fast as their growth has been, it is clear both are intent on conquering new horizons. Their underdog and fighter instincts will need to be in full play as they set their sights on the next 20 years.
Asked where he sees Qatar in the next 20 years, Al Baker quipped “it will be after my time” but it clear that while he is there, he will put it on the path to becoming a top global player to be respected. He said the biggest threat to legacy airlines will be the “quality and innovation that we will bring”. He also sees a future in which he believes “the GDSes will not win”.
Fernandes wants to build the world’s first true pan-Asian brand – a one AirAsia – where national boundaries dissolve. “I want to be like Alexander The Great and make them marry one another,” he jested of his ambitions to create a true ASEAN brand. Now with sights set on North Asia, Fernandes knows he is again up against legacy thinking around aviation and airports but the platform he’s built in ASEAN should hold him in good stead as he goes on to conquer the rest of Asia.
Their differences? Fernandes is clearly more irreverent and uses humour to get his points across. When asked what his plan with AirAsia was, he jested during awards night, “Buy Qatar.” Fernandes’ leadership style is more personal. “I am easy and approachable,” he said to me. “Yes I am opinionated but I believe in consensus. But if I believe in something, I will force it through. That’s what leaders do, that’s my prerogative.”
Al Baker believes in having discipline and compassion – two traits which when brought together make for a powerful combination, he said. His role model is the late Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew who was known for his brand of “benevolent dictatorship”.
Whatever their individual style, what drives both men is their common purpose of changing aviation and proving they can do it.