Tony Fernandez
Tony Fernandes CBE, Malaysian, aged 50, was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of the Company in December 2001 and was re-designated as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director on 30 June 2012 and subsequently as Non-Independent Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Company in November 2013. He is also a member of the Employee Share Option Scheme of the Board. He was the Financial Controller at Virgin Communications London (1987-1989) before moving on to be a Senior Financial Analyst at Warner Music International London (1989-1992), Managing Director at Warner Music Malaysia (1992-1996), Regional Managing Director, Asean (1996-1999) and Vice President, Asean at Warner Music South East Asia (1999-2001).
Tony Fernandez was admitted as an Associate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in 1991 and became a Fellow Member in 1996. In 1999, the Sultan of Selangor bestowed on him the title Setia Mahkota Selangor for his contributions to the Malaysian music industry. He also received the Recording Industry Person of the Year 1997 award from the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia.
Since launching AirAsia, he has received numerous state awards as well as accolades from international press and industry observers. Within Malaysia, he has been awarded the title Dato’ by the Sultans of Negeri Sembilan and Pahang; Dato’ Seri by the Sultan of Perak; and the title Tan Sri, one of the country’s highest honours, from a former Yang di-Pertuan Agong. He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Business Innovation from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in March 2010.
Internationally, his outstanding contributions to the French aviation industry were recognised with the title Officier of the Legion d’ Honneur in April 2010, followed by the Commander of the Legion d’Honneur in November 2013, the highest rank of honour that the French Government can bestow on non-French citizens. In 2011, he was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
From the industry, he was presentedthe Airline Business Strategy Award 2005 and Low Cost Leadership Award by Airline Business and named Asia Pacific Aviation Executive by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) for the years 2004 and 2005. He bagged The Brand Laureate Brand PersonalityAward for his exemplary performance, dedication and contribution to the aviation industry in Malaysia in 2006 and 2007. He was presented the CAPA Legend Award 2009 (Aviation Hall of Fame) for his influence in shaping the aviation industry’s evolution and the Airline CEO of the Year Award for 2009 from Jane’s Transport Finance for his success in leading and growing AirAsia into Asia’s largest and the world’s best low-cost airline.In 2010, Tan Sri Tony was awarded the prestigious Nikkei Asia Prize in Tokyo for his contributions to the growth of Asia and the Masterclass Global CEO of the Year award at the 2nd Malaysia Business Leadership Award (MBLA). He was also named Forbes Asia Businessman of the Year 2010, the first Malaysian and Asean citizen to receive the award.
In 2011, Tan Sri Tony was named one of the most creative people in business by New York-based business magazine Fast Company and was on its Top 10 Most Creative People in Twitter list. He was also named CEO of the Year at the Annual Budgies World Low Cost Airline Awards held in London; and CNBC Travel Business Leader of 2011 at CNBC’s Travel Business Leaders Award Asia Pacific held in Singapore.
In 2012, he was bestowed the Individual Achievement of the Year award at the 1st Malaysia Achievement Awards 2012, organised by the Malaysia Achievement Organisation (MACA). He was also honoured with the Best CEO for IR -Mid Cap award by the Malaysian Investor Relations Association Berhad (MIRA); named as one of Malaysia’s outstanding CEOs by The Edge Billion Ringgit Club (BRC); and announced as GQ India’s International Businessman of the Year at the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2012 in Mumbai.In January 2013, Tan Sri Tony was named a Malaysia Brand Ambassador by Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He went on to win Corporate Governance Asia’s Best CEO for Malaysia award -for the third year in a row –in March.
He is a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of both Tune Ins Holdings Berhad and AirAsia X Berhad. Stayed in South Africa.