The airline industry around the world has been hit hard by the arrival of COVID. Both intercity and international travel have been instantly paralyzed. No one would have thought that the airline industry would suffer this much.
Due to financial problems, income has decreased but expenses remain the same. It will be difficult to survive. Some airlines have been forced to close down or file for bankruptcy.
“Flybe,” a British airline, announced that it filed for bankruptcy and closed its business around the beginning of March.
“Trans States Airlines,” a regional airline in the United States, also announced its closure in April.
“Virgin Australia Airlines,” Australia’s second largest airline, declared bankruptcy in mid-April.
“Avianca Airlines”, the second largest airline in Latin America, has also filed for bankruptcy. Most recently, Thai Airways filed for bankruptcy in order to enter the rehabilitation process in May.
And how are the airlines that are still in operation doing?
Australian national airline Qantas lays off 6,000 employees
British Airways to cut 12,000 jobs
“American Airlines” prepares to cut 25,000 jobs
“KLM Airlines” prepares to lay off 2,000 employees
United Airlines to lay off around 16,370 employees
“Thai Lion Air” lays off 120 employees with less than a year of service.
“Thai Airways” is about to lay off 6,000 employees after the business rehabilitation plan.
And there are many other airlines that are looking for ways to survive this COVID crisis.
But at Thai AirAsia, the low-cost airline business that has been affected by this COVID-19 like other airlines around the world, even though Thai AirAsia is still able to fly domestically, Thai AirAsia X is out of the question. The planes have been grounded and unable to fly anywhere since March.
Thai AirAsia has also been hit hard, but why doesn’t Thai AirAsia choose the same option as other airlines, laying off employees? To cut costs or to keep the organization going?
What happened here at Thai AirAsia?
With curiosity, the admin had to go find the answer.
Admin had the opportunity to talk to Mr. Topad Subanrak, Director of Sustainability and Corporate Communications, AirAsia Group, about the latest situation of Thai AirAsia.
And this is the story of Thai AirAsia: “How did they do it? Let the employees and the organization get through the crisis together.”
Mr. Topad said that many people have asked… what made Air Asia employees post messages of gratitude to the executives and give each other so much encouragement, even though everyone has been directly affected by income?
“Corporate culture” may be the “answer”.
The 4 Ss are our corporate culture that was not created overnight. It has been the lifeblood of AirAsia since day 1 until today.
S. Sanook: Our crew can sing and dance on the plane without being told off. There are hardly any AirAsia commercials or events that don’t make you smile. If there are any, they’re usually a bit of a flop.
S. Style: Everyone accepts each other’s differences. People from different professions come together in the airline. Pilots, cabin crew, mechanics, ramps, office workers. They have different skills in their work.
S. Samphan: We are a family, especially during difficult times like COVID, it is clear that we help each other in every way we can.
S. Creative Sustainable: I believe that everyone can experience AirAsia’s creativity in one way or another. Today, “creativity” alone is not enough to keep us growing; it must be “sustainable” as well. When we were kids, we did “Quick Fix Later”. We ran so fast that the system couldn’t keep up with the speed we were running. When we grew up, we started to think more, spend more time, look further, and look around more.
The 4 Ss came from the process of creating an Internal Brand several years ago.
Having a strong corporate culture doesn’t just create success stories, it also creates resilience that keeps us grounded during times when our entire fleet is flying through turbulent weather conditions.
Mr. Topad also gave a tangible example of working with the 4 Ss, which is the work of the OTP: On Time Performance committee, which consists of every department that will make our flights depart on time, starting from flight planners, fleet management, dispatchers, pilots, cabin crew, and ground staff. If we don’t have the 4 Ss, each department’s team may blame each other, leading to stressful meetings, and in the end, the problem cannot be solved.
But understanding, accepting the duties and differences, listening to opinions and having the same goal, makes us do this work efficiently, making us the most punctual airline in the country and ranked 10th in the world according to OAG.
After talking to Mr. Topad, I also learned that during the COVID crisis, the management had no intention of laying off any employees.
Because you see employees as an important resource and like family members.
Therefore, we are trying to push forward, look for ways and opportunities that will help employees and organizations fight the COVID situation together.
Many projects have been launched, such as providing opportunities for employees to work part-time or earn extra income, such as through Market Place, or most recently, Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, and Ananda Development PCL have joined hands to create the 2nd Job 2nd Chance project for Thai AirAsia employees.
Ananda Development PCL will join in developing knowledge in the field of Property Consultants, expecting that this project will be another channel for Thai AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X employees to earn extra income during this crisis.
Corporate culture: Is it really good? How good is it? On the day of crisis, we will see whether what we have done is really good or not.
For example, the story of the airline business, Thai AirAsia , is another case study that shows that creating a strong and good corporate culture is really important and has a great impact on the sustainability of both the organization and the employees themselves.
It’s time to take corporate culture and sustainability seriously.
Because this is immunity in times of crisis.
Co-author: Ms. Topad Subanrak, Director of Sustainability and Corporate Communications, AirAsia Group
Illustration: Thanks to Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia and Ananda Development PCL.
