Malaysia's 3rd aviation tragedy in a year?
PUBLISHED ONDecember 30, 2014 10:40 PM
It has been a bad year for Malaysian aviation.
The news about AirAsia flight QZ8501 yesterday follows the tragedies suffered by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) earlier this year.
The AirAsia Airbus 320-200 went off Jakarta's air traffic radar midway through its flight from Surabaya to Singapore.
On board were 155 passengers and seven crew members.
The AirAsia brand is synonymous with Malaysia, although AirAsia Indonesia is a separate entity.
The Indonesian airline is 49 per cent owned by Malaysia-based AirAsia Bhd, with local investors holding the rest, reported Reuters.
AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes tweeted that the missing plane was "my worst nightmare. But there is no stopping".
He had taken to his Twitter account to show his support for his employees after flight QZ8501 went missing.
Mr Fernandes, a former record industry executive who acquired the then-failing airline in 2001, arrived in Surabaya yesterday, where most of the passengers are from, reported AFP.
"Obviously this is a massive shock to us and we are devastated by what has happened. It's unbelievable," he told a press conference.
"We don't want to speculate. We don't know what's happened yet so we'll wait for the accident investigation... Our concern right now is for the relatives and the next of kin.
"Right now, we are focused on search operations. Countries in the region and the search teams are working hard to find the plane."
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said his nation was "praying for the safety" of those on board.
Yesterday's incident comes in the wake of two disasters suffered by Malaysia's national carrier MAS in the last 10 months.
MAS Flight MH370, with 239 passengers and crew on board - mostly Chinese nationals - vanished in March en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The Boeing 777 is believed to have gone far off course and ended up in the southern Indian Ocean.
Extensive searches of the area by global aviation experts and the Malaysian and Australian governments have turned up nothing so far.
Just four months later, MAS was hit by another tragedy.
In July, Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukrainian airspace, killing all 298 on board, including 43 Malaysians.
It was flying to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam when it was apparently hit by a surface-to-air missile.
The Ukrainian government and pro-Russian Ukrainian rebels have blamed each other for the disaster.
The twin tragedies led to MAS being delisted from the Malaysian stock exchange on Dec 15, as it undergoes privatisation.
Can flamboyant entrepreneur weather crisis?
Malaysian mogul Tony Fernandes, who transformed a floundering carrier into Asia's biggest budget airline, faces his first major crisis after an AirAsia plane went missing yesterday with 162 people on board.
AirAsia is credited with starting a revolution in the skies of Southeast Asia and has seen spectacular growth under Mr Fernandes' low-cost, low-overheads model despite intense competition, reported AFP.
The former record industry executive who acquired the then-failing airline in 2001 has become one of Asia's most visible entrepreneurs and has carved out an image that has seen him compared often to colourful Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson.
Mr Fernandes maintained an image of calm yesterday even as his company plunged into its first major crisis after an AirAsia passenger jet went missing in bad weather en route from Indonesia to Singapore.
"Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. We must stay strong," he tweeted as he left for Surabaya, where most of the passengers are from.
"My only thought (sic) are with the passengers and my crew."
Mr Fernandes is ranked 28th on the Forbes list of Malaysia's richest, with an estimated net worth of US$650 million (S$860 million).
DEFYING NAYSAYERS
The tycoon, a flamboyant spirit in Asia's staid business world who favours blue jeans and caps over power suits, has made a habit of defying naysayers.
He took over loss-making AirAsia shortly after the September 11 attacks in the United States sent the global aviation industry into a tailspin.
At the time, he was given little chance of succeeding.
He bought the airline, its two aircraft, and 40 million ringgit (S$15 million) in debt for the token sum of one ringgit, mortgaging his house to pour money into the carrier.
But with his motto "Now everyone can fly", he turned it into a growing force in the industry, with profits mounting and its route system expanding worldwide.
In 2011, Mr Fernandes struck a deal with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone for a majority stake in Premiership football team Queens Park Rangers.
Endau Analytics aviation analyst Shukor Yusof said his entrepreneurial spirit would survive yesterday's apparent tragedy.
"This incident will not dampen Fernandes' business spirit. This is such an unfortunate incident. AirAsia remains a strong budget carrier. I
think the people will rally behind AirAsia," he said.
This article was first published on December 29, 2014.
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