No airs about her

Down-to-earth ‘Maan’ is possibly Asia’s only female CEO, president and shareholder of an airline. But she’s also an activist, journalist, TV host and environmentalist

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Marianne Hontiveros, CEO and president, AirAsia Philippines

What made you join the airline?

I was doing a personal favour for a friend, AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes, who wanted to enter the Philippines. (He was managing director of Warner Music Malaysia while Maan was Warner Philippines’ managing director). I helped negotiate for AirAsia Group to fly from Malaysia to Clark International Airport.

Philippine partners Antonio Cojuangco and Mikee Romero were very busy running their business empires so they were looking for additional partner. And they kind of decided that I was it.

How did you prepare for what is traditionally a man’s field?

I did my homework. I read and studied civil aviation regulations, among other things.

I am not afraid to ask questions and to admit I don’t know. I talk to experts. You would be surprised that people are so eager to teach you and share their knowledge.

Aviation is an exciting industry. I learn as fast as I could. It’s not rocket science. The important thing, aside from the business basics, is safety – of passengers, staff, pilots, aircraft…you cannot have shortcuts where safety is concerned.

Is gender an issue in airline business?

I don’t really think so. Every one who is willing to learn and study hard can do it. And if you’ve got good mentors, you can learn…People have to see that you really are dedicated and committed.

How different is the music industry from aviation? 

When Tony said he would build an airline, I laughed at him. What do you know about running an airline? He said: “Nothing yet but I can plan and study. If you can sell CDs, you can also sell airline seats.”

There are many parallels between music and AirAsia. For example, promoting our routes is like promoting an artiste – the same basics of marketing, of getting your costs rights, of getting the product on time and selling it off early.

Safety is very important, which makes aviation different from the music industry. In the music industry, the most that you can be accused of is sappy songs.

And in a LCC, you have to manage cost up to the last centavo without sacrificing quality.

How do your varied experiences influence your vision for the airline?

At the end of the day, we are building on Tony’s dreams that everyone can fly. I believe in Tony’s dream. Air travel has become affordable to overseas Filipino workers and their families.

We need to have corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes. AirAsia Foundation was formed a year ago, and supports projects in education and social entrepreneurship. It has five board members from all over ASEAN.

The environment is also very close to my heart. Airlines burn a lot of fuel and we are conscious of that. We have to watch our footprints, and we try to lessen our carbon emissions and offset (them) by doing a lot of tree planting. We intend to monitor coral reefs so we have a Reef Check team, which (has participants) from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. This also facilitates teambuilding. The first team will finish their training this year.

You’re flying to Tacloban this morning (Ed’s note: This interview was conducted in December.) Is this part of CSR?

We’re visiting our 25 staff there who are living in tents after super typhoon Haiyan destroyed their homes. We are bringing them food and organising temporary housing for them.

We’re also running humanitarian flights to areas affected by Haiyan and beyond that, carrying relief workers and displaced people from the affected areas, and stranded tourists.

AirAsia launched To Philippines with Love to help the Haiyan victims. We’re hoping to hit US$1 million with the help of employees and passengers (Ed’s note: This target was met.) We’re also setting up a counterpart fund to rebuild schools, houses, hospitals, etc.

We’re committed to providing assistance whenever calamities hit. Whenever it happens in Asia, AirAsia tries to respond and provide free cargo space to support the communities.

AirAsia Group pioneered low-cost travel in Asia. But in the Philippines, Cebu Pacific is dominant. How do you intend to compete?

We must be transparent in our fares. We started the peso base fare and made sure that it clearly stated what the add-on costs were. Because at the end of the day, your passengers are smart and if you lose their confidence, they won’t come back.

This whole idea of low cost and cost optimisation is being cascaded to all employees. Our pilots have very good practices in their SOP to ensure that fuel burns is managed to be low…But always, safety is of paramount importance.

We’re on our way to having a paperless cockpit, subject to the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. But we will be providing our pilots with tablets and laptops instead of the heavy cockpit manuals. It’s not only cost management practice but also your commitment to the environment. That’s where all the airlines are headed.

What you have is a table and chair in a corner, not an enclosed office.

We have a very flat organisation. We are not concerned with layers and titles. We have a very participative management organisation that bears fruits.

Everybody plays an important role. Our management meetings are huge and not just the top-level management but anybody belongs. People are kept informed and empowered, so they take accountability for their work. We have a very open management style and this is seen even in the office set-up – one open space, no layers.

Service to the people seems to be a big part of your corporate credo. 

I am so passionate about it. Somehow you are put there, in a position, by God or by the universe, and you are able to utilise that for the good of the people.

This article was first published in TTG Asia, March 14, 2014 on page 9. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.

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