Eddie Leong of Firefly on BFM89.9

[Alan B. 5]

I will have Eddie Leong of Firefly on my show this Friday at 8am. Tune into BFM89.9 or log on to www.bfm.my for live streaming and the podcast will be loaded later and can be downloaded on the same site.

 

Coming soon on the 19th .... Tony Fernandes of AK.

 

If you have any questions just post them here and I will ask them for you!

Edited December 2, 2008 by Alan B.

[TK 0]

hhmm....questions.....

[Walter Sim 1]

I don't know if it is appropriate hehe.

 

Are they only giving away muffins??? no other ah, sandwiches blah blah blah

[M. Sofian H. 0]

i have two question,

 

1)

When FY will introduce new domestic route? like SZB-AOR, SZB-KCH etc...

i see the domestic route more 'untung' than fly to Indonesia (at this moment).

Hope FY will focus more on domestic route since Subang Airport is key to make FY success!

 

 

2)

I find out FY's promotion pretty grim and were some society yet know FY's existence

 

nowadays i can see many VVIP fly with FY. Congrat FY!!

[Ashmil Abd Ghani 0]

This questions are in mu mind for this moment..Just a small boy question here.. =)

1. Did next upcoming FY ATR72 equip with IFE screen same as MASwings ATR72??

 

2. When FY to introduce SZB-IPH also SZB-KUA route??

 

3. With current economy slowdown and less demand on air travel, will FY still proceed with they plan to make JHB and BKI as their hub soon as their plan before??

 

Thanks Alan to post this at our forum..

[Y. J. Foo 0]

My question: Will FY establish another hub anywhere, anytime soon?

 

 

[Simon 3]

My question:

 

Will you make Melaka a hub after the completion of the airport expansion?

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

Alan , slip in some free advertising for MalaysianWings lah . hee hee

[Kenneth Chong WT 0]

Hi Alan, missed my questions the last time...not going to miss it this time around...Hehehe...here come my "gila kuasa" questions....

 

1. Why make BKI a hub, would the ATR be suited for the JHB/SZB-BKI route?

 

2. From the BKI hub, what are the destinations they are planning to fly to? How would this operation be beneficial to both MAS and MASwings...would there be an over lap/clash of operation as FY prides itself as a separate entity from MAS.

 

3. MASwings put itself out there as a commuter airline...how will FY benefit from being a Community Airline?

 

For Dato TF.

1. How would a LCCT in KCH benefit AK when the current airport and routes (esp International) could not even generate the desired load factor needed by AK? (i.e Bali and Macau)

 

2. Would he agree on the view that "AK should at least prove it's position as the premier airline of choice in hearts of Sarawakian before asking the state government to commit to an LCCT?" As it was AK group could not even generate enough load to sustain Bali, Macau and even CGK. Won't it seemed that asking for an LCCT as being "too much".

 

3. Did he ever regretted the "closing down of KCH as a hub"/ no night stops in KCH"? Given that it is now harder to launch new routes i.e. KCH-PER/BWN/TPE as there are no more crews based in KCH?

 

4. Will AK comply with MAHB's order of moving AK's operation in BKI back to Terminal 1?

 

5. How has AK given back to the community (i.e Charitable Organization), given that AK has a strong support Malaysians from all walks of life? (Even the Heart Campaign AK asked the passengers to donate, not from their own pocket(s).

 

Personal question to the "MAN" himself....

 

6. There is a thin line separating personal agenda and being professional, where does he draw the line as not to cloud his professional judgement and in maintaining his own sense of integrity?

 

7. Would he say that the success he achieved today has to do with his own vendetta against someone or out to prove something?

 

8. How will Dato TF use his fame and fortune in contributing to humanitarian efforts in Malaysia?

 

Thanks Alan...might need to "censor" some I think...hahahaha....it was fun just think of the questions....

Edited December 2, 2008 by Kenneth Chong WT

[daryl 0]

I guess for mr Tony F, since the london-kl route is coming soon, any plan on upgrading its size of plane to let's say, A380?

[Jen Hau 0]

To , Mr Tony Fernandes.

 

Question : When will he employ me as the pilot of Air Asia, hehe

 

Good luck for your show.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Hi Alan,

 

For 'warm up session', maybe you could ask whether both CEOs are an aviation enthusiast themselves or not? Are they into diecast model collection, aircraft spotting and such?

 

Then for Eddie Leong:

 

1. Ask him why FireFly is just lukewarm in their marketing strategies, unlike AK? If he tries to deny it, cut him straightaway, by saying that it is a widely accepted fact.

 

2. Ask him to reveal some brief financial performance result from his team. Are they making money?

 

3. Ask him what is the first thing that he'll do, if he is a) the CEO of MH 2) the CEO of AirAsia

 

4. Taking the cue from Walter's muffin question, ask him about the possibility of traditional kuehs to make a present onboard FY as free refreshments (curry puffs, kueh lapis etc) in addition to the muffins. I think it will cost lesser than the muffin, while at the same time, promoting our traditional kuehs. Would be great if FY have a rotating menu for the refreshments, to give more variety while at the same time, didn't cost the airline a fortune. (Sriwijaya Air of Indonesia has successfully implemented this in their snackboxes - pulut panggang, kek lapis and a few other Indonesian traditional kuehs are flying the friendly sky with that airline).

 

5. Any chance of tying up his airline with Enrich FFP? And sharing the same booking engine with MH/MASwings?

 

 

For Dato Seri Tony Fernandes:

 

1. Ask him to comment on the recent big losses in AK's 3rd quarter financial report.

 

2. Ask him what is the first thing that he'll do, if he is a) the CEO of MH 2) the CEO of FireFly

 

3. Ask him about the possibility of AK returning back to KUL MTB. Ask him what does he wants to bring back the airline back to MTB. Will he ever sees AK returning to MTB? Is the cost that significant that AK refused to operate from KUL MTB? But why FD operates in BKK, aren't the cost not much differ from DMK? Why did AK/FD/QZ didn't use the Budget Terminal in SIN for the same reason as well.

 

4. Ask him the current status of Vina AirAsia, Philippines AirAsia and Sri Lanka AirAsia. Also any plan of entering Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives?

 

5. Ask him what the public Malaysians can expect from AirAsia Group in 2009.

 

6. What he really wants for Christmas this year.

 

7. Is that really him in Facebook?

Edited December 2, 2008 by Mohd Azizul Ramli

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Another one for Dato Seri TF:

 

8. Why is AirAsia still don't have a Frequent Flyer program? If cost is the main factor, why did the Virgin Group managed successfully with their Virgin Velocity? Is there a possibility for something like Virgin Velocity being introduced to AirAsia flyers? Does he is in the agreement that a FFP will tie more passengers, especially corporate to AirAsia?

 

Good luck for your show, and if any of my questions made it, million of thank you to you.

[jysim 0]

Questions for Eddie:

 

1. now that SZB is slowly becoming the focus of FY, how does PEN, where FY began its humble origins stand?

 

2. I remember IJ mentioning sometime ago that FY is something 'experimental' by MH - that it will follow the Silk Air model of SQ in the future. How true is that? And will they still operate out of SZB by then?

 

 

[Juergen Witte 0]

My questions to Eddie Leong:

 

1) When will Firefly "increase" reliability to a common level ???

(in terms of keeping schedules as well as making sure customers get to know about canx or reschedulings !!!)

It seems that especially FY is becoming very "unreliable" to people who need to plan their travels !

(I´m talking from my personal experience as well as that of fellow travellers ! )

 

2) What is the use to open a base at BKI ? Competition against MASwings ??? (inhouse competition seems to be a weird kind of perspective ).

3) As i heard the AT7 would probably be used even between SZB/JHB and e.g. BKI i wonder if customers are willing to add 20-30 mins travel time compared to jet services. So, is FY considering to add jets to the fleet ??? Or is FY planning to "undercut" competitors fares (the latter being an unlikely possibility in my opinion - unless there´s someone willing to heavily subsidy FY´s flights ! )

 

My questions to Tony Fernandez:

 

1) Are there any serious plans regarding further destinations in Europe ?

 

2) Is AK considering additional destinations in the Philippines ? (Cebu Pacific is quick in opening routes to Malaysia -BKI recently - but nothing happens in the other direction ...) I´m thinking about CEB or DVO in particular.

 

3) Since the long distance network is growing, what kind of amenities are AK/D7 thinking of at the moment to generate a greater catchment area as there is no connectivity for onward travellers (no "throughbookings"). It will be difficult to fill an A340 only with point-to-point traffic (obviously there are "transit" passengers on these flights but the financial benefit against the legacy carriers is very limited)

So, how to overcome this problem without sacrifying the point-to-point principle ??? ( I have a few ideas how to keep that principle and still make travel with D7/AK easier for travellers who are not bound for KUL ! - We have a few LCC´s here in Europe and some of them offer e.g. throughbookings albeit still with separate check-in for each sector ... )

[Rozhan 0]

Alan, just one question for Eddie.....

 

Is it Firefly's mission to put Air Asia out of business on behalf of its parent, Malaysian Airline System Berhad?

[Alan B. 5]

Thanks guys for the great questions and your support and will try to get as many answered as possible!

[Guest redharahmad]

 

one more pls When, if ever will FY fly SZB-SIN/XSP? and will parent MH be supportive of FY venturing on this route. Thx

[Sri Ramani K. 0]

rather than shooting them with expansion plans, passengers, and a/cs, i'd love to hear from them about what their staff think about the company? or maybe AK in particular, cost-cutting, down sizing of staffs and so on, whats the morale like in the company?

[KC Sim 2]

Question for Firefly from Singapore"

 

Q1 Will Firefly take advantage of the increasingly liberal aviation landscape between Malaysia and Singapore?

 

Q2 What are the chances of Firefly operating between Malaysian towns such as Kuala Terengganu - Singapore, Subang - Singapore and even Penang - Singapore?

 

There was an earlier question about the muffin served on Firefly. I personally think that it was adequate - firstly because the muffin was very tasty and it came with a full-cup of orange juice and even a full cup of hot coffee (on MH/SQ on the KUL-SIN route, u just get a drink). As long as Firefly keep prices affordable, serve that wonderful muffin (dont mind if they get creative and come up with otah-otah bun or something like that) and do not cut back on that full cup of orange juice and coffee, I will continue to be a Firefly fan. For me, my flight with Firefly on the JHB-SZB-JHB route recently was a really positive experience especially because the flight attendant - Smita - was really friendly and professional at the same time, and their check-in staff at JHB and SZB were very good too.

 

Firefly is one airline that I am very hopeful will help make flying a joyful experience.

 

KC Sim

[Alan B. 5]

I have just completed my interview with Eddy Leong as he can't make it to the studio tomorrow. It was a very good interview (all 27 minutes of it) that answers a lot of your questions. It will go on air around 8 am tomorrow on BFM 89.9fm. A podcast of the interview will be loaded on our web site www.bfm.my by next week.

 

We also had a great conversation after the interview where we spoke about MW and FYI Eddy had just join MW! Welcome Eddy!

[E Faizal 0]

I have just completed my interview with Eddy Leong as he can't make it to the studio tomorrow. It was a very good interview (all 27 minutes of it) that answers a lot of your questions. It will go on air around 8 am tomorrow on BFM 89.9fm. A podcast of the interview will be loaded on our web site www.bfm.my by next week.

 

We also had a great conversation after the interview where we spoke about MW and FYI Eddy had just join MW! Welcome Eddy!

 

 

Hi Alan,

 

Great work....

 

Welcome Eddy... Enjoy your time in here...

[Ashmil Abd Ghani 0]

I have just completed my interview with Eddy Leong as he can't make it to the studio tomorrow. It was a very good interview (all 27 minutes of it) that answers a lot of your questions. It will go on air around 8 am tomorrow on BFM 89.9fm. A podcast of the interview will be loaded on our web site www.bfm.my by next week.

 

We also had a great conversation after the interview where we spoke about MW and FYI Eddy had just join MW! Welcome Eddy!

 

Great job Alan and I heard this morning your radio station broadcast for first time.. :good:

 

Thanks Alan ask my question to Mr Eddie Leong also most of question had been posted here you ask..Glad to hear all the long explanation by him but he always laugh and laugh.. :D

 

But only thing I (we most improbably) never know most of the FY current figure,,such pax load statistic and their P&L account..I dont know either 1 day he or FY company will publish their P&L statement like other company..I know this company not public listed company so may it remain P&C..

 

One more thing is,,I heard today broadcast through my hand phone walkman and I use both side of hearset,,I can heard clearly jet engine sound and at certain time sport car exhaust sound..hehehe..

 

Wait next week 13 Dec for other broadcast with DTF..

 

TO Mr. Eddie Leong..Welcome to forum..

 

Thanks again to Alan and his ratio station crew..

[Li Ren 2]

When will Datuk Idris Jala become a M'Wings member since Datuk Tony any Eddie Leong are already part of M'Wings ??

 

**To Mr Eddie Leong,welcome to M'Wings

Edited December 5, 2008 by Li Ren

[Alan B. 5]

One more thing is,,I heard today broadcast through my hand phone walkman and I use both side of hearset,,I can heard clearly jet engine sound and at certain time sport car exhaust sound..hehehe..

 

Hahaha yes that was the sound of jet engines. Eddy Leong's office where the interview was recorded is at Kompleks A Subang over looking the hangar area. I must apologise for the poor sound as it is recorded in a non-sound proof room with a lot of glass windows that results in that very hollow sound quality. Plus the handphones were interfering with the mike.

 

As for DTF, his interview is set for the 19th at the same time. I hope that you can tune into the station.

 

 

For those that didn't get a chance to hear this interview, I am waiting for the recording to be tranfered to MP3 and it will be downloadable on our web site: www.bfm.my went I get back from the Hari Raya Haji holiday.