AirAsia CEO’s massage photo sparks controversy

NEW DELHI: Tony Fernandez, the CEO of Air Asia, has been criticised by scores of people for posting a shirtless photo while getting a massage on the business and employment-focused social media platform LinkedIn.

“Was a stressful week and Veranita Yosephine suggested a massage. Got to love Indonesia and AirAsia culture, so that I can have a massage and do a management meeting! We are making big progress and I have now finalised the Capital A structure. Exciting days ahead. Proud of what we have built and never have lost sight of the finish,” he wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

The Malaysian entrepreneur’s LinkedIn post with a picture, shared on Monday, shows him receiving a desk-side massage during a virtual meeting.

This post has garnered hundreds of reactions. Some individuals have alleged that the Malaysian millionaire deleted unfavourable comments on the post. “A grown man, who is the chief executive of a publicly listed company, conducts a management meeting with his shirt off as he gets a massage. Remove “who is the chief executive of a publicly listed company” and it is still inappropriate,” commented Nathalie D Ramirez.

“I see my comment got deleted, which must have been a mistake, so I’ll add it again. I don’t think the women in your company would feel comfortable or safe in this context, and given you’re the boss, they likely won’t challenge you or say anything. Please for their sake, listen to the comments you’ve deleted on this post. You are clearly a smart leader that cares about culture but this isn’t the way to create a supportive, safe one,” comments another LinkedIn user, Rebecca Nadilo.

“Work at AirAsia, where meetings are as gross as our passenger experience. You have managed to capture everything from inappropriate entitlement to exemplary C Suite tone deafness in a single image. Bravo,” commented Anton Reyniers.