Tony Fernandes
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes and crew

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes has revealed how the airline narrowly avoided a major operational meltdown after receiving an extraordinary late-night warning from Airbus about a technical fault that threatened to ground thousands of jets worldwide.

Fernandes shared the dramatic behind-the-scenes account in a long post on social media on Monday morning, detailing how a phone call at 10 pm Wednesday night last week triggered a 25-hour emergency operation that saw engineers scramble to save the airline's fleet from potential mass grounding.

The crisis, he said, came just days after AirAsia reported more than $1 billion (£790 million) in EBITAR for the third quarter.

EBITAR, or Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, Amortisation and Aircraft Rent, is one of the airline industry's key measures of operational profitability. It strips out financing costs and aircraft rental expenses to show how well an airline's core flying business is performing.

Midnight Warning from Airbus

Fernandes said he was contacted personally by the CEO of Airbus Aircraft, Christian Scherer, and informed that JetBlue had experienced an incident involving the ELAC flight-control computer system on its A320 fleet.

The discovery led to an urgent directive requiring a software downgrade and the potential replacement of certain hardware components on affected aircraft.

'This was a massive blow,' Fernandes wrote, explaining that early projections suggested some airlines could have jets grounded until December.

6,000 Aircraft at Risk

The alert initially indicated that around 6,000 A320-family jets worldwide could be affected, sparking fears of widespread flight cancellations and grounding across global fleets.

Fernandes said the news hit AirAsia hard.

'We were seriously concerned we might not be able to fly at all,' he admitted.

Emergency Meeting at 12.40 am

By 12.40 am early Thursday morning, Fernandes had convened an emergency crisis meeting involving senior executives, engineering leadership, and the airline's communications and customer experience teams.

Engineers worked through the night reviewing technical instructions and possible solutions.

'By 5 am, our engineering team had already devised a solution,' Fernandes wrote.

96 Jets Saved in Just 25 Hours

The team moved into action immediately. Between 5 am Thursday and 7 am Friday morning, AirAsia engineers downloaded new control software and physically replaced required components across 96 aircraft.

The entire operation was completed in just 25 hours, allowing AirAsia to maintain the majority of its flight schedule.

'Everyone came back from leave and off-days to get this fixed,' Fernandes said. 'They did an incredible job.'

Praise for Airbus Boss Leadership

Fernandes praised Airbus CEO Christian Scherer for being personally involved during the crisis.

'Christian Scherer called me personally. Kudos to him,' he said, adding that not all leaders in aviation respond effectively during emergencies.

'Leadership is to be present when there is a crisis,' Fernandes wrote. 'Many in the aviation business fail — especially CFOs. Other OEM leaders could take a huge lead from him.'

Flying Without a Financial Safety Net

Fernandes also used his post to highlight AirAsia's ongoing financial challenges, revealing that the airline received no government bailout or major Malaysian bank rescue during the pandemic.

The company only secured 300 million ringgit (£51 million) from Sabah Development Bank and 800 million ringgit (£136 million) from Thailand's Bangkok Bank. Fernandes said both loans are due to be fully repaid by the end of the year.

For comparison, he pointed out Singapore Airlines received a state-backed rescue package worth around 58 billion ringgit (£9.9 billion).

Because of limited funding, AirAsia had been forced to finance aircraft restorations itself, slowing fleet recovery.

15 Planes Left to Restore

Fernandes said AirAsia still has 15 aircraft undergoing repairs, but expects the full 250-plane fleet to be operational by December, marking the airline's first full post-COVID recovery.

On-Time Performance Holds Up

Despite prolonged maintenance delays, reduced spare aircraft, and scheduling pressures, Fernandes said the airline has managed to maintain on-time performance of around 70 per cent, compared to its usual 85 per cent.

While acknowledging delays, he praised staff resilience.

Financial Turnaround Continues

The technical scare occurred against a backdrop of strong financial recovery, with AirAsia reporting more than $1 billion (£790 million) in EBITAR in Q3 alone, a major milestone after years of pandemic disruption.

Closing his lengthy Monday post, Fernandes paid tribute to staff:

'A truly remarkable performance of grit and resilience. Take a bow, Allstars.'

The episode highlights the razor-thin margins under which modern airlines operate, where safety alerts can collide with financial recovery and test emergency responses at scale — and where fast leadership can mean the difference between crisis containment and total shutdown.

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