AirAsia a firm believer in nurturing talent, says Fernandes

SEPANG: AirAsia is a company that strongly believes in nurturing talent and empowering women, said Tan Sri Tony Fernandes(pic).

"We were the first airline in Malaysia to have female pilots, and now they make up 5.5% of all our pilots - a higher ratio than in the US," he said, adding that the airline has many capable women in the company and on its board. 

The AirAsia Group CEO said that the company was inspired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's policy of bringing Malaysians back from overseas to grow the country's talent base.

"Our biggest drive in 2018 is talent acquisition and talent development," he said. 

Fernandes said that AirAsia has brought talent back from the top universities in Britain and the United States to enable the transformation of AirAsia into a "digital powerhouse". 

Fernandes said the airline fully embraces Najib's vision of driving wages higher so Malaysia can attract the best talent, adding that a high wage policy is not likely to lead to inflation.

"Just a motivated, better rewarded and better qualified staff, who deserve to have more to spend on their families, which in turn boosts communities too," he said. 

Fernandes also reported that for the first time in aviation history, AirAsia has been recruiting in the Middle East. 

"For years and years, the Middle East took our talent and now I can report back that with competitive wages and a high standard of living, we are bringing Malaysians home and international talent to Malaysia," he said.

AirAsia's corporate headquarters RedQ at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) was officiated by Najib on Thursday (March 1).

The ceremony was witnessed by over 2,000 AirAsia employees, known as Allstars, and was telecast live to the airline's Penang, Johor, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu hubs.

Also present at the event was Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Low-cost carriers AirAsia Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd officially moved into their new corporate office at the KLIA2 in November 2016.

RedQ, which is short for RedQuarters, encompasses an area of 18,000 sq m, housing more than 2,000 AirAsia employees, or Allstars.

RedQ's facilities include a Lil Star Child Care, physiotherapy centre, Allstars clinic, a gym with a personal trainer, sleeping pods, cafeteria, coffee bar, salad bar and a three-storey spiral slide.