At a briefing with staff on June 4, AirAsia Berhad CEO Riad Asmat announced that the services of 111 cabin crew from 1,900 crew members, 172 pilots and 50 engineers will be terminated.
Across AirAsia Group’s divisions, the workforce is expected to be reduced by up to 30%, marking the retrenchment of over 300 employees.
Seeing this, Allan Phang, an ex-AirAsia employee himself who’s now working at EVOS Esports, decided to take the initiative to create a spreadsheet for his former colleagues.
He was inspired to do so after seeing the SEAriously Awesome People List – Startup COVID-19 Layoffs spreadsheet by a group of VC firms in SEA, and the Former Klook Employees spreadsheet by Audrey Mah, Klook’s ex-Community Lead, amongst some other individuals and companies who did the same.
In his spreadsheet called the Former AirAsia Allstars List – COVID-19 Layoffs (opt-in), former AirAsia Allstars could register here and have their profiles viewed by potential recruiters.
Impacting Hundreds With One List
“I decided to do this because I’ve been working alongside them for close to 7 years, I probably spent more time in the office with them than with my own family,” Allan told Vulcan Post.
“I can understand what they are going through and want to do the little that I can. By others sharing and creating awareness, even one person sharing the list can potentially impact over 170 ex-employees in a positive way,” he added.
As of now, the list has about 179 former employees already listed, and a majority of them are cabin crew (27.9%), pilots (15.1%), and in engineering (16.8%).
Some analytics of the sheet’s participants / Image Credit: Allan Phang 
Some analytics of the sheet’s participants / Image Credit: Allan Phang
Several other departments that the ex-employees were in included ICT, finance, marketing, sales & distribution, and more.
83.8% of them are from Malaysia, and employees from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore are also included.
The majority of them (73.8%) are looking for full-time positions and are willing to relocate (81%) for the job.
While Allan isn’t sure if anyone on the list has gotten offers yet, he shared that some of them have been approached for interviews already.
It’s a sign that the list is working, and that recruiters are actively looking. On his LinkedIn, Allan is also actively sharing news of Group CEOs and large franchise groups spreading the sheet around and going through the list.
Resilience In The Face Of Adversity
However, because cabin crew and pilots made up a significant portion of employees on the list and other airlines like Malaysia Airlines and Malindo Airways were also currently struggling, I expressed my concern to Allan.
I thought that being trained as cabin crew and pilots with specialised skillsets specific to a particular context (the airplane) would mean that they would be “restricted”, in a sense, when it came to seeking employment.
But Allan didn’t seem to have the same concern and shared a more positive outlook on it.
“AirAsia Allstars are known to be highly regarded by employers due to the training and culture at the workplace. Their team spirit is highly commendable, they possess a collaborative culture digitally and are highly resilient,” he said.
With their personality and characteristics, they can easily adapt in any organisation, because they’re always willing to learn with a never-say-die attitude.
Allan Phang, ex-AirAsia employee
For remaining AirAsia staff, it’s reported that their salaries will be slashed up to 75% in an attempt to save the airline, and founder Tony Fernandes is also considering selling a 10% stake in in the airline to raise cash.
- You can read more on what we’ve written about AirAsia here.
Featured Image Credit: Allan Phang
