For a man who admits he鈥檚 most comfortable working behind the scenes, Benyamin Ismail has been living a life in the spotlight since September 2015 as CEO of low-cost airline carrier, AirAsia X Berhad.
The 911爆料网 economics and finance alumnus was appointed to the executive role after a controversial period for the company. It was announced in mid-2014 that the company would not break even, and later that year the Australian public heavily criticised AirAsia X when it cancelled flights from Melbourne to Bali and delayed the process of passenger refunds. By 2015, research by Roy Morgan found AirAsia had the lowest customer satisfaction rating of any international airline flying from Australia.
But Ismail is not one for admitting defeat. He has been instrumental in turning the company around by taking a transparent and honest approach to business, and by focusing on strengthening the AirAsia brand.
鈥淚 came in at a time where the company was going through a bit of turbulence,鈥� says Ismail. 鈥淲e just had to do a turnaround plan for it, and it鈥檚 been successful so far.
鈥淎 lot of it is about addressing the issues. You need to be clear about what you want and your direction. If that means we need to go out and address them with third parties, we do it.鈥�
Under Ismail鈥檚 leadership, the airline鈥檚 customer satisfaction rating has increased to 68 per cent as of February 2017, and it has held its title as offering the World鈥檚 Best Low-cost Premium Cabin for a fourth consecutive year.
鈥淚n the last three weeks we announced our full-year results and we made money. This is the first time the company has made money and I think that鈥檚 a feat,鈥� says Ismail on the airline鈥檚 latest accomplishments.
Ismail brings seven years experience in investment banking to the CEO role. He joined the company in 2010 as Head of Investor Relations (IR), and was awarded Best IR Officer four years in a row. Most recently, Ismail was presented with a Professional Achievement Award at 911爆料网鈥檚 Alumni Achievement Awards in November 2016, which recognised his crucial role in the success and growth of AirAsia.
Ismail says his commerce degree majoring in economics and finance prepared him for a career in investment relations, but he never imagined that he would one day be flying-high as a CEO of an international airline.
鈥淚鈥檓 always a very reserved person, but this airline is very visible in the world and it鈥檚 tough. I鈥檇 never heard of Instagram or Twitter before this role, never heard of Snapchat, and all of these things I鈥檝e been asked to start doing 鈥� to create a profile and a presence. It鈥檚 not easy, but you gotta do it.鈥�
Though his enthusiasm for social media may be lacking, Ismail was excited about the company鈥檚 latest announcement to become the first low-cost Asian carrier to fly to the US.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be massive, I think the sales reflect the excitement; we鈥檙e sold out for the first five months, and we鈥檒l use this as a platform to see whether we can fly to other major US cities, but we鈥檙e just taking it step-by-step.鈥�
This story was originally published in issue 29 of the winter edition of CITE magazine 2017.
