AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade
The disappearance of AirAsia Flight 8501, which was carrying 162 people, could be the third major tragedy of the year for Malaysia's airline industry.
Despite this alarming fact, AirAsia actually has a reputation for safety and quality, which it has achieved during years of stellar growth.
Indeed, before the latest crisis, 24 out of 28 industry analysts recommended buying AirAsia stock , according to Bloomberg. While the stock fell as much as 13% when trading resumed after the disappearance, backlash against the airline may have been diminished by reports that storms may have been a major factor in any crash.
The budget airline has been named the world's best low-cost airline for six years in a row, according to the aviation ratings agency Skytrax. The a irline's long-haul subsidiary AirAsiaX also finished second on the list this year.
That achievement is even more impressive given that the airline was on the brink of failure little more than a decade ago.
The man at the heart of the airline's spectacular rise is its charismatic CEO, Tony Fernandes.
Before AirAsia became a multibillion-dollar aviation juggernaut, it was a small, struggling airline owned by the Malaysian government. It consisted of nothing more than two aging Boeing 737 jets, 250 employees, and one route, not to mention $40 million of debt.
Together with several partners, Fernandes took control of AirAsia from the Malaysian government in December 2001. He paid 29 cents and assumed the airline's massive liabilities.
Fernandes, then a 37-year-old music executive, had no aviation experience to speak of, but he did understand entrepreneurship and the leisure and entertainment market in Southeast Asia.
Born in Malaysia and educated at the London School of Economics, Fernandes began his career at Richard Branson's Virgin Communications in the mid-1980s. He rose to the position of financial controller before moving to Warner Music International's London operation in 1989. Fernandes was chosen to lead Warner's operation in Malaysia as its managing director before being put in charge of its whole Southeast Asia division.
REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes in front of an AirAsia Airbus A320.
Taking a cue from Southwest Airlines, Fernandes built his airline on cheap fares, quality service, and quick turnarounds for its planes.
The airline quickly reached profitability and remained in the black.
The Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia — together with its subsidiaries in Indonesia, India, Thailand, and the Philippines — now operates a fleet of more than 160 Airbus A320 and A330 series jets transporting more than 230 million passengers per year.