Women told to spread their wings
AirAsia CEO urges girls to pursue dreams
SEPANG: Being in a male-dominated industry is no excuse for women to not scale the heights.
AirAsia Bhd CEO Aireen Omar (pic) said girls should spread their wings and reach for their dreams, and she wants to encourage more girls to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology.
“At AirAsia, only a handful of female staff members are attached to the technical division, specifically aviation, engineering and piloting. I’d love to have more female pilots, engineers and technicians but resources are lacking.
“Most girls prefer to pursue courses deemed ‘more suited for women’ such as finance, marketing and law,” said Aireen.
Out of AirAsia’s 929 pilots, 39 are women and of AirAsia X’s 315 pilots, 15 are women. Of the 183 engineers in AirAsia, eight are women and of AirAsia X’s 61 engineers, only one is a woman.
# GirlsCanDoAnything is AirAsia’s initiative to empower and inspire young women to dream big and believe they can achieve anything they set their minds on.
Aireen, 44, is a strong role model for girls.
She has helmed the budget carrier since 2012 and has steered AirAsia’s ascent to becoming Asia’s biggest low-cost airline.
She charted AirAsia’s growth plans and implemented strategies that helped the airline stay ahead despite fierce competition.
One of the most well-known CEOs in the region, Aireen is proof that women belong in high- er management.
“Many women are already helming top positions in corporate organisations. In 2000, Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz was chosen as the country’s first female central bank governor.
“Over the years, many outstanding women have taken on CEO positions at financial institutions. Malaysia is pretty advanced in embracing women leaders, compared to other countries,” said Aireen, who worked in the financial industry prior to AirAsia.
Aireen said anyone can attain their goals if they work towards them.
“It boils down to focus, hard work and perseverance. If I can
PETALING JAYA: The new petrol and diesel price to be announced weekly should not pose a problem if the change to the weekly ceiling price is not too high, Petrol Dealers Association president Datuk Khairul Annuar says.
Welcoming the move, Khairul said for dealers, their fuel stock would be sold at a loss if the ceiling price goes down more than 10 sen compared with the week before.
“We are hoping the weekly change will be five sen and below, and that the quantum is not too big so that it will not affect our profitability,” he said in an interview.
Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin announced onWednesday that weekly fuel prices will be announced every Wednesday and the new price will be enforced the next day.
He said the new mechanism would allow consumers to enjoy a more stable retail price for fuel compared to the monthly pricing currently in use.
The new mechanism will come into effect on March 29.
Khairul said if the weekly change was not too high, consumers’ buying pattern would not be adversely affected.
The industry was not ready for an all-out price war because some dealers have multiple stations and much bigger margins than others, which posed unfair competition.
Petrol dealers were initially worried that the measure would cause an intense price war as it would be a free for all.
“Small players will go out of business if it is free competition,” he said.
The Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumer Affairs Ministry had assured they would control the price war as any changes in pump price from the ceiling price requires the ministry’s approval, he said.