I’m not cynical or bitter in any way. Life’s too short; you get ripped off, but if you hold a grudge, it’s going to affect you. You take it on the chin, you learn, you try not to make the same mistakes. – Tony Fernandes
I don’t know if every player in the Premier League feels hurt when they lose a game. The right sort is very important. I was naive in thinking that everyone was like me. – Tony Fernandes
In AirAsia, we consider ourselves basically a dream factory. We deliberately decided that we wanted a company where people can pursue their passion, and we wanted to make use of all the talent that we have in-house. – Tony Fernandes
Don’t kid yourself that anyone in the Premier League is going to do you any favours. – Tony Fernandes
I think airlines have been very much parrots. They’ll just follow what everyone else is doing. Why change a model that they’re happy in? And it takes someone like myself or Richard Branson who comes from outside the industry to say, ‘Hey, let’s try something new.’ – Tony Fernandes
My whole life’s been stability. People who have worked with me have for a long time. Air Asia is the same people who started it. – Tony Fernandes
Aviation is for the common man. My goal is to enable everyone to fly. It shouldn’t be only for the rich. – Tony Fernandes
I came from the music business, which reputedly has the biggest egos, but I really think the airline world caps it. – Tony Fernandes
I don’t care about failing because I do not want to sit down in my older years and say, ‘How come I didn’t try?’ – Tony Fernandes
My whole life has always been about looking for that person that money can’t buy in that they’ve got a bee in their bonnet. – Tony Fernandes
In Europe, they travel a lot lighter. I always joke that my Indonesian passengers bring their house and their neighbor’s house. – Tony Fernandes
Winning is an amazing feeling. You don’t get that in business; you don’t get that in many things. – Tony Fernandes
When I started my airline business, I didn’t know everything, right? If I start up a newspaper tomorrow, I might get ripped off by journalists. You’d be naive to think you know everything from day one. – Tony Fernandes
When the music business failed to embrace the Internet, I thought it was game, set and match for the industry, and I quit. – Tony Fernandes
I look for people who have drive, who have ambition, who are humble. I’ve hired many people at very strange places. – Tony Fernandes
I’ve lived in Jakarta and have seen a lot more by living here, and I understand that there’s so much more to Indonesia than just Bali and Jakarta. – Tony Fernandes
Good leadership is to know when to go, and you only succeed as a good leader if you’ve transported someone else in and the company gets stronger. Then you’ve succeeded as leader. – Tony Fernandes
