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No News Is Bad News
Tony Fernandes and AA can f..k off
KUALA LUMPUR, June 14, 2024: Air Asia (AA) boss Tony Fernandas is asking Malaysians to help him keep the airline afloat by not seeking refunds.
His reason is he wants to keep Air Asia staff employed.
What a load of bullshit from Fernandas? Does he think Malaysians are morons?
Is he running a charitable organisation that deserves our sympathy?
So, Mr Fernandas, go f…k off! Air Asia can close shop for all we care.
This Chinsee (Mandarin) saying is most appropriate to you Mr Fernandas: Ni Dou You Jing Tian (You also got today! Or karma for short.)
No News Is Bad News reproduces below a viral social media message on why Fernandas does not deserve any charitable sympathy from Malaysians and air passengers:
*Tony wants everyone NOT to seek a refund !!!*
[26/11, 12:18] Edwin Das: Tony Fernandes is asking to Malaysians to help him keep Air Asia afloat by not seeking refunds. His reason is, he wants to keep the staffs at Air Asia.
Here are some fun facts:
1. Tony Fernandes is worth RM3.2 billion as of 2018.
2. He earned RM23.5 million in 2018 (on paper) as AA CEO.
3. Air Asia earned RM1.6 billion in 2018, RM1.5 billion in 2017 and RM1.7 billion in 2016.
4. He campaigned for Najib BN in 2018.
5. Here's the billionaire and millionaires telling normal Malaysians, "please spare us some money to save Air Asia".
6. But why don't these billionaires and millionaires donate some of their money to help their own staffs who helped built Air Asia's success??
7. Tony can donate RM1 billion from his RM3.2 billion.
8. Air Asia can donate another RM1 billion which is equivalent to less than a year's profit.
9. Together they have RM2 billion.
10. Do the math. Tony Fernandes plus Air Asia's RM2 billion donation is enough to pay the entire Air Asia Group's 20,000 staffs as much as RM10,000 per month for 10 consecutive months.
11. But of course, the billionaire and millionaires at the top of Air Asia don't want to. They rather squeeze their own staffs and squeeze ordinary Malaysians while they keep their millions and billions.
12. In China the huge troubled China developer, Evergrande owners, sold their own assets to bail out their company. Why can't he?
AND......
13. Worse still he owes millions to Malaysia Airports ..tax payers money.
14. Even worse, won't refund 500 million advance tickets sales money in AAX
15. Spent million to purchase a Korean golf hole.
16. What about the hundreds of millions (in US$) he earned in commissions when purchasing planes from Airbus Industrie- subject of corruption investigation taken up by Boeing in the USA.
17. What about those millions he used to aquire Lotus Racing? And the millions used to acquire Queens Park Rangers Football Club?
18. And he got the guts to ask people to spare him! Malaysia airports should go hard on him as the passengers has already paid these taxes! He has failed in his Fiduciary capacity!
19. Tony Fernandes and AAX is now claiming all those who booked and paid ahead for the flight tickets are “creditors”.
20. As “creditors” and in order to save AAX, the creditors are being ‘forced’ to accept 0.05% from the monies the passengers paid in advance for their flight ticket.
21. In short, AAX is calling on the passengers who paid in advance as “creditors” to accept 5 sen for every RM100 spent and release AAX from all further obligations and with no further claims.
22. AAX is now warning that in the “creditors”, do not accept AAX proposal, AAX will go downunder and fold up and the “creditors” will get nothing.
23. This is the biggest ‘robbery’ and scam. The “creditors” money used up by AAX while Tony Fernandes preserves and protect his personal wealth. In simple words, he suffers no loss while the “creditors” not only suffer loss but also help save AAX.
*SO WHAT SHOULD THE “CREDITORS” DO?*
1. Remember, you are the passenger who paid in advance for the flight ticket. You are NOT a creditor who advanced or loaned money to AAX. You are a PASSENGER and NOT AND NEVER A CREDITOR.
2. Have dignity and reject acceptance of 0.05% offered for every RM100. Remember, you are asked to accept 5 sen from every RM100 you had spent buying the tickets.
3. It is better to lose that 5 sen. Say no to 5 sen for every RM100.
4. Let AAX collapse and wound up. Your 5 sen loss in the RM100 is no greater than the loss for AAX.
5. Better to lose the 5 sen than allow AAX rip you off.
5. Just say *NO* and let AAX COLLAPSE.
6. REMEMBER that it is better to see AAX collapse and wound up. You can help see that happen.
*Please viral this to another 10.*
Tuesday 23 May 2023
Stop ‘talking cock’ Mr Fernandes
No News is Bad News
KUALA LUMPUR, May 24, 2023: Disgraced prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s staunch supporter Tony Fernandes should just stop talking “cock” and just get to work on Air Asia’s administrative woes, especially on refunding fares that its owes to the travelling public.
The Air Asia founder is known to be a publicity-seeking sweet talker who indulges in publicity for image building.
However, no amount of publicity will clear complaints of Air Asia slow pace in refunding the air travelling public of fares for cancelled flights, and its poor services.
So, Mr Fernandes, stop “talking cock” and get to work to clean up your (airline’s) house.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below related stories on the issues:
Sky-high airfares have peaked, says Fernandes
The AirAsia founder says he wants prices to go lower to stimulate more traffic.
Bloomberg - 24 May 2023, 8:18am
Tony Fernandes said there has been ‘phenomenal’ air traffic growth in Southeast Asia following the pandemic.
DOHA: Airline ticket prices have peaked, at least in the market where budget carrier AirAsia operates, according to its founder, Tony Fernandes.
“We are there or thereabouts,” Fernandes said in an interview on the sidelines of the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. “We don’t want it to go any higher, we want it to go lower. We want to stimulate more traffic, so I think they’ve peaked.”
Airfares globally remain elevated in the wake of the Covid pandemic, with capacity and staffing unable to match a sharp rebound in demand. Fernandes said there is “phenomenal” growth in Southeast Asia, and places such as the Middle East are also booming.
AirAsia, part of the wider Capital A Bhd group, aims to ride this by launching airlines in two more countries in the Asean region, Fernandes told Bloomberg Television. In December, the company announced plans to enter Cambodia.
“It really is Asia’s time for growth,” he said, without revealing which new markets the airline is considering. Capital A already operates budget airlines out of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. It shut down its operations in Japan and India in recent years.
With travel rebounding, AirAsia will have all of its 210 aircraft back in service in about two months, Fernandes said. The fleet should grow to 300 planes in the next four to five years, with annual passenger traffic rising to 150 million from about 80 million.
“This is quite something from two years ago when we were struggling to survive,” he said.
While supply-chain disruptions and production delays are affecting the industry globally, Fernandes said he was confident that engine manufacturers and Airbus SE would “get their acts together” in the next six months.
In a separate interview, Fernandes said AirAsia is considering expanding routes in the Middle East.
“Driving around Qatar and looking at Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman, we think we can provide affordability to people here to come to Southeast Asia, and for Southeast Asia we can open a whole new market,” he said. “Coming to the Middle East has opened my eyes.”
Fernandes said he is also looking to secure funding from investors in the Middle East for Capital A’s businesses that are still recovering from the pandemic.
“Lots of people have been approaching us,” he said, without giving any names.
Despite ministerial soundbites, AirAsia passenger complaints continue
More passengers speak up about their experiences, from flight delays and cancellations to the discovery of maggots in their food.
February 3, 2023 1:00 PM
Pictures of a maggot found in a meal served on an AirAsia flight in December, shared online by Jagruti Upadhaya.
More AirAsia passengers have come forward to share their recent experiences with the budget carrier, despite a series of assurances and statements from Transport Minister Anthony Loke on ending the problem of frequent flight delays and cancellations.
A passenger from Kuching, Sarawak, told MalaysiaNow how she had been forced to fork out an extra RM1,399 just to get her family home from Kuala Lumpur.
Angelina Sinyang arrived at low-cost carrier hub klia2 at about 2.30pm for a 3.55pm flight on Jan 29. Upon her arrival, she found that she was only able to check in one piece of luggage using the self-service kiosk.
When she went to the check-in counter to speak with an AirAsia staff member, she was surprised to find it closed.
"They told me that I could no longer check in my luggage as they had already made the final call twice," she said.
Because of this, she said, there were no more staff on duty who could bring the rest of her bags to the plane.
Angelina was advised to purchase new tickets if she still intended to return to Kuching, and to claim the luggage that she had managed to check in.
"But when I went to the baggage counter, they said that the original flight had been delayed to 4.30pm," she said.
"This means that I actually would have had more time to check in my bags before going to the terminal."
In the end, Angelina bought four new tickets for a flight scheduled to depart at 9.55pm, paying RM1,399 on top of the RM2,000 she had paid for the first flight.
However, even the second flight was postponed, from 9.55pm to 11.30pm and then again to 12.05am.
"We finally arrived in Kuching at 2am," she said. "My child had to miss school the next day because she was too tired."
AirAsia topped passenger complaints from January to June last year, according to data published by the Malaysian Aviation Commission or Mavcom.
A total of 527 complaints (42.1%) were made against the budget airline, followed by 40.7% against Malaysia Airlines. Meanwhile, Batik Air, formerly known as Malindo Air, received 99 complaints or 7.9%.
Late last year, Loke drew criticism for rebuking only Batik Air for flight delays despite similar problems of a greater frequency at AirAsia.
"As a minister, he should be fair to all parties. Why single out Batik Air? Why is there no mention of AirAsia delays and cancellations or refund issues? This is being biased," local aviation expert Germal Singh Khera, who is also a former Mavcom director, told MalaysiaNow.
Maggots in meal
For passenger Jagruti Upadhaya, her experience flying with AirAsia was a bit too much to stomach.
She and her family were on a return flight from Bali to Kuala Lumpur in December last year. They ordered four vegetarian meals to eat on the plane.
"We found maggots in my child's food," she told MalaysiaNow.
"So none of us touched ours, either. We asked the stewardess to take them all away."
Jagruti filed a complaint through AirAsia's chatbox AVA but was forced to wait until Jan 25 for a response.
"AirAsia only contacted us after I made a social media post accompanied by a picture of the maggots," she said.
"They offered us credit of RM100. We don't want money, we want a sincere apology. It's a good thing none of us fell sick."
Jagruti is still considering whether to take legal action against the airline.
Christian Echica, a Filipino working in Malaysia, said he had emailed AirAsia more than 10 times since November to ask for a refund after his flight home to Cebu for Christmas was cancelled.
Christian was forced to spend another RM1,718 on a ticket with Philippines Air instead.
Today, he still has doubts about whether he will receive his money back despite AirAsia's assurances. His hope is that Loke will intervene and take the appropriate action.
"If they were just ordinary people like us, they would want justice too," he said.
"I hope the authorities will be more sensitive to this issue and take whatever steps are necessary, like contacting the affected passengers and asking about the developments in their case."
MalaysiaNow is still awaiting a response from AirAsia.
'Only AirAsia': International travellers vent fury over slow refunds
They say they experienced cancellations with other budget airlines as well but received their money back almost immediately.
February 12, 2023 12:00 PM
Passengers wait outside their boarding gate as an AirAsia plane sits on the tarmac at the Kuching International Airport.
An AirAsia passenger from Germany has resolved to respond to every Twitter post that the low-cost airline makes until he receives a refund for the flight tickets he purchased for several hundred ringgit some six months ago.
Felicity Wilcox, a UK citizen living in north Cologne, said he had paid €103 (about RM480) for a flight from Luang Prabang, Laos to Bangkok, Thailand, scheduled to depart on Aug 30, 2022.
He booked the tickets on June 23, 2022, and was told a month later that the flight schedule had been changed.
Wilcox decided to take AirAsia's refund option for those who do not agree with flight schedule changes.
"I took the refund option as I was worried about missing my next flight in Bangkok," he said.
"Then I bought new tickets with Lao Airline. I was told that the refund process would take 14 days, but I have yet to receive my money back."
Wilcox said AirAsia then sent him an email informing him that the company did not guarantee the period of time within which he would get his money refunded.
It was then that Wilcox chose to take the matter to social media, deciding to respond to every tweet AirAsia made from September last year onwards.
He also made a series of complaints through AirAsia's chatbox AVA in addition to emailing the company, but today, he is still waiting for a solution.
Wilcox also took the matter up with Mavcom or the Malaysian Aviation Commission, but was told that the problem was beyond its jurisdiction as the flight route was not within the country.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he said he had experienced 10 flight cancellations with another low-cost airline, adding however that none of these was an issue as his money was refunded almost immediately.
"It's not so much about the amount of money I paid. It's more about AirAsia's unethical behaviour," he said.
"I will only stop responding to their tweets after they give me back my money, and not in credit form."
For Elvi Yuliani from Singapore, however, the money she paid was in fact the main issue.
Elvi forked out S$1,327 (about RM4,328) for flight tickets to Semarang, Indonesia, buying them through the AirAsia website.
Her flight was supposed to depart with Batik Air on Oct 6, 2023 and return eight days later.
However, she later received an email from AirAsia informing her that the flight had been cancelled.
"I emailed them, and I sent messages to AirAsia staff on LinkedIn. I left comments on AirAsia's Facebook and Instagram and lodged complaints with Mavcom, authorities in Singapore, and my credit card company. - malaysianow.com
AirAsia faces backlash over delayed pandemic refunds
Customers say they are still waiting on refunds for flights that were cancelled or rescheduled during the pandemic.
AirAsia is facing a customer backlash over refunds for flights cancelled or rescheduled during the pandemic [File: Edgar Su/Reuters]
Published On 23 May 2022
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysia’s AirAsia is facing a wave of complaints from customers who say they have still not been refunded for flights that were cancelled or rescheduled during the pandemic.
AirAsia and its subsidiary AirAsia X (AAX), both owned by Capital A Berhad, grounded thousands of flights in 2020 and 2021 after the Malaysian government shut state and international borders to curb the spread of COVID-19.
But months after the low-cost carrier resumed flights following the lifting of interstate and international border restrictions for Malaysians in October, hundreds of customers have taken to social media to complain of poor customer service and long waits for refunds.
Rohana Betak, 60, said she requested a refund of 4,000 Malaysian ringgit ($911) after the airline cancelled her flights between Senai and Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah state, following the introduction of a nationwide lockdown in March 2020.
Betak, who planned to visit the area around Mount Kinabalu, Southeast Asia’s highest peak, with her family in October 2021, said the airline’s automated online customer service only offered her the option of travelling on different dates. Betak decided against accepting the offer due to uncertainty over when restrictions would be lifted and concerns about catching COVID-19. Two years later, she says she is still waiting for her money back.
“In my request, I said it was fine to refund me credits for the booking but instead I was reminded in June 2020 that I must board the flight to Sabah on a different date and there would be no refunds,” Betak told Al Jazeera.
“It was not helpful because instead of offering me at least credit in refunds, it told me I had no other choice but to travel on different dates.”
Rohana Betak, pictured in a pink hat in the back row, says she has been waiting two years for a refund from AirAsia [Courtesy of Rohana Betak]
Travel to Sabah before October 2021 was strictly limited to certain categories of travellers, including those travelling for work and those born in the state. Rohana and her family did not fall under any exempted category.
“When it demanded I get on another flight, I asked if they wanted to send me and my family to our deaths?” Betak said. “It’s so frustrating and I am so tired of trying to get my money back so I’ve accepted that I might not get my money back at all.”
Many of the complaints have been directed towards AVA, AirAsia’s online chatbot, which is the only line of communication between customers and the airline for issues involving bookings or flights.
In particular, some have questioned why it is so difficult to reach customer service to request a refund, even for flights booked since the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
Customer Aulia Chaerisa Salleh said she is waiting for a refund for a flight between Batam and Jakarta that was booked earlier this month after she was informed no seat was available.
“I paid for my ticket and it did not register in the system so I tried to get my refund for my tickets. I tried the AVA live chat but it is not helpful at all. It has been days, I haven’t heard from them,” she said.
Under AirAsia’s current refund policy, the airline offers customers a refund, credit or a new travel date whenever a flight is cancelled or postponed.
AirAsia told Al Jazeera the airline is engaged in ongoing dialogue with consumer regulators across the region to ensure compliance with all local regulations.
“AirAsia Group’s policies are in line with many low-cost operators in the travel industry worldwide and are fully compliant with all regulatory requirements and as a customer-centric airline, we have focused on resolving all customer queries during the pandemic as soon as possible,” a spokesperson said.
The airline group said it has resolved more than 90 percent of refund requests and is committed to resolving a small number of outstanding claims as soon as possible.
“In Malaysia for example, our current refund progress is only left with 0.03 percent of the refund requests we received and we are looking forward to completing the refunds exercise for all outstanding queries within the next few months,” the spokesperson said, adding that the past two years had been the most challenging in the history of commercial aviation.
The spokesperson added that “our passengers remain our number one priority” and the airline will “continue to enhance our services to deliver the very best in terms of safe, affordable and reliable air travel”.
‘Problem child’
Tan Kok Liang, president of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA), said the refunds backlog is a short-term issue and its 3,100 members will continue to book with AirAsia as long as requested by customers.
“The problem child is AAX and while air connectivity is crucial for tourism recovery, based on media reports, AirAsia should be held more accountable to all stakeholders,” Tan told Al Jazeera.
The hefty compensation paid out to airline co-founders Tony Fernandez and Kamarudin Maranun, who took home close to 30 million ringgit ($6.8m) combined last year, has also raised eyebrows.
Following the release of Capital A’s Annual Report 2021 last month, some social media users vented their frustrations on Fernandez’s personal Instagram accounts, with one comment slamming AirAsia as “the one and only airline that does not have a customer service phone number.”
Despite the generous executive compensation, AAX, the group’s long-haul carrier, was last year forced to undergo debt restructuring to save itself from liquidation after racking up huge debts during the pandemic.
In March, AAX announced it had completed its debt restructuring after creditors earlier agreed to a deal under which the airline would pay just 0.5 percent of outstanding debt and terminate existing contracts to restructureRM33.65 billion(US$8.1 billion) of liabilities.
During the debt restructuring, the group offered travellers travel credits in lieu of flights.
The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM), however, urged the airline to reimburse customers for tickets purchased while threatening to exercise its powers under the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015.
Capital A posted revenue of 1.7 billion ringgit ($387m) in the 2021 financial year, down 47 percent from the previous year, as capacity sank to just 36 percent of 2020 levels. - Al Jazeera
Sunday 29 October 2023
Now, only Tony Fernandes can enjoy … AirAsia passengers can suffer all they want
No News Is Bad News
A picture is worth a thousand words …
Now, only Tony Fernandes can enjoy … AirAsia passengers can suffer all they want
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30, 2023: Surely the above picture says it all. And the AirAsia boss has no qualms about showing off in social media.
While Tony “Now Everyone Can Fly” Fernandes is showing off and enjoying life, AirAsia passengers have to sweat it out in long queues caused by flight delays.
Now everyone knows why AirAsia’s ground services are getting shitty.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below a social media posting by an irate AirAsia passenger:
Yokey Sim
DEAR TONY FERNANDES- whilst you are the Big Boss of Air Asia and enjoy the luxury of getting massages whilst you hold a meeting. ARE YOU AWARE THAT THE PASSENGERS PAYING FOR YOUR LUXURIOUS LIFESTYLE ARE ALL FUMING AND SUFFERING DUE TO YOUR INEPT HANDLING OF FLIGHTS DELAY! 
We were all booked on flight AK122 for Shenzhen and departure was at 3.40pm. After being held up for more than 2 hours delay at Departure Hall - we were ushered in with a packet of Nadi LEMAK into the plane. And inside the plane we waited at our seat for more than another 2 hours without any updates or information. Drawing the anger and impatience of the passengers and suddenly we were all asked to vacate the plane and moved to another separate gate and still made to wait and wait and no one explained or gave any information or announcements. It was mayhem. The passengers were ushered back and forth without clear explanation and even the staff didn’t know what to do.
Let me posit this to YOU - MR Tony Fernades
You make money off all of your passengers. You enjoy yr luxuries and pleasures and we do not begrudge you of your lifestyle. But you are making money out of all of us commoners don’t you think you ought to treat us all with decency?
TO THE MINISTER OF TOURISM - you want Chinese tourism visit Malaysia and contribute to our economy. But there’s no one able to speak Mandarin to assist all the tourosts passengers who couldn’t even request for food etc from the air hostess. Is this out we treat our guests who’s come to spend money in our country ?
And Mr Anthony Loke -pls do look seriously into the predominant issues of flights delays etc and again I would like emphasise! Can information be disseminated professional instead of the passengers running here and there like a lost herd of sheep 
And finally ! There’s no system in the Boarding - free for all! So you can imagine how disorganised this is. Being Asians we are all impatient to Baord so everyone. Is fighting to get top spot. And it’s taking more than 2hours to get everyone seated. Still waiting ! !Why the system in the tickets that states clearly ROW 1, ROW 2, etc etc 
RIGHT NOW AS WE BOARD LASSENGERS ARE STILL FIGHTING OVER SEATS ARRANGEMENTS. YOUR STAFF ARE NOT TRIANED TO HANDLE SUCH SITUATION. DISGRACEFUL WITH ALL YOUR NICE GUY IMAGE !
Last but not least - THIS IS MY WORST EXPERIENCE OF AN AIRASIA FLIGHT ! 
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