AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes sparks controversy after posting a photo of himself receiving a massage during a conference call on social media. Photo / LinkedIn
AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes sparks controversy after posting a photo of himself receiving a massage during a conference call on social media. Photo / LinkedIn
AirAsia co-founder Tony Fernandes sparked heated criticism after he posted a half-naked photo of himself while getting a massage during a virtual office meeting.
The 59-year-old took to LinkedIn of all places to promote his company’s culture that allows him to receive a massage during important meetings.
The only problem was that while trying to promote the flexible work culture he posted an image of himself half-naked receiving the massage.
The photo showed him without a shirt and a masked-up masseuse kneading his shoulders while he addressed a virtual meeting.
“Got to love Indonesia and AirAsia culture that I Can [sic] have a massage and do a management meeting,” he wrote on Monday alongside the image.
His now-deleted post has since gone viral and caused outrage with many labelling his move “unprofessional” and “inappropriate”.
“You could have wrapped up the meeting and then had your massage. I don’t think in a civilised culture this seems appropriate.”
“Got to love Indonesia and AirAsia culture that I can have a massage and do a management meeting”, wrote Tony Fernandes in a now-deleted photo. Photo / LinkedIn
Another said: “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.”
A third added: “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.”
Others questioned whether employees could get away with the same actions if they tried it themselves.
#AirAsia CEO #TonyFernandes posted this photo on LinkedIn while he was praising the low-cost Malaysian airline for its work culture.
He was seen chairing a management meeting sitting shirtless and enjoying a massage.
Fernandes has since defended himself, explaining that the massage was suggested by one of his employees after he complained about the pain he was suffering following an 18-hour flight.
“You can never really explain the thought process behind a post, so I deleted it,” he told Bloomberg. “I didn’t mean to offend anyone.”
Fernandes has owned the airline for more than 20 years.
It’s not his first social media gaffe.
Fernandes appears to often mistake LinkedIn for Facebook and posts a lot of highly personal updates and images to the platform.
Earlier in 2023 he made it known to the world he wanted to reach three goals, one of which was to lose weight.
In the post, he posted an image of himself with his shirt off and detailed how he planned to lose the weight.
He has also posted numerous images of his daughter’s wedding and photos of himself with his shirt off on previous occasions.
Public stunts aren’t new to Fernandes, who previously won a Formula 1 racing bet against Virgin Airlines founder Richard Branson in 2013, forcing the British entrepreneur to dress as a stewardess and serve drinks to AirAsia customers.
