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Philippines AirAsia admirably since stepping
into the position in 2016. Last year was one
of its best, and the company plans to expand
its fleet by 50 over the next few years, to
nearly 70 planes. After all, it’s parent company
has been named World’s Best Low-Cost
Carrier by Skytrax, for the past nine years.
The reason for Philippines AirAsia’s
success is at least partially down to Dexter’s
nurturing of the staff. “Being a pilot gives
me a chance, whenever I need to fly or feel
like flying, to visit the different stations and
see what their problems are. I can also check
the skills of my pilots.
“If anybody has a problem, they just
come to me,” says Dexter. “If there’s a
question, I sit down with them and we talk
about it. If there’s a decision to be made with
other departments, I call the head executives.
And we solve the problem immediately.”
Of course, a company doesn’t need to
address many staff problems, if it simply
solves them before they can truly manifest.
It’s for this reason that Philippines AirAsia
puts a lot of care into training their staff and
maintaining a skilled workforce.
“When we started AirAsia in the
Philippines, back in Clark, we were training
pilots who came from the other airlines
here,” says Dexter. “We pledged to start up an
airline of Asian people who love to work in
this area. To this day, we’re very proud to say
we’ve been successful in this. I’m a military
guy, so I have to train them myself.
Particularly the pilots and the crew first, but
even the maintenance guys. We first trainthem individually to perfect their individual
skills. After that, we can train them as a team.
“Along the way, it’s important to
communicate our goals, ensuring they are
very clear and simple. It doesn’t matter if
you’re a driver, garbage collector, pilot or
baggage handler. Every employee is
guaranteed to understand where we’re going
and what we need to do. And then, since
they’re trained well individually and as a
team, we can coordinate the different
departments moving towards the same goal.”
At the same time, Dexter understands the
need for a well-structured, smooth-running
internal culture. Having spent around 10
years in the Air Force, the former fighter
pilot brings a no-nonsense approach to
managing staff. It’s not just strict management
though; Dexter maintains a firm grasp on
egalitarianism, and a clear sense of what is
right and wrong.
“Along with student-centred learning,
we’re trying to espouse a just culture,” he
says. “Not only in terms of safety but also in
terms of quality and discipline. Then our staff
start to realise that, ‘Okay, we know that if