AirAsia Phl's prime mover

I remember meeting Marianne ‘Maan’ Hontiveros in Davao for the first time to visit the Philippine eagle conservation site. I’ve known her as a television personality, but that of course, doesn’t allow one to know who the real Maan Hontiveros is. Some remember her as an activist during her St. Scholastica days and the First Quarter Storm. Others know her as one of the three hosts of the late ‘70s show “Ms. ellaneous (with Tina Revilla and Yogi Dominguez). She is also vividly remembered as one of the personalities that entertained the crowd gathering along EDSA for the original People Power Revolution. But she made her mark in the business world when she became chief executive of Warner Music Philippines. During all these, she has maintained her love affair with the arts – whether it be ballet, playing the guitar, films, name it.

Spare Time finally caught up with Maan who is busy preparing for the maiden commercial flight soon of her newest baby – AirAsia Philippines. Here are excerpts from this writer’s interview with the very interesting chief executive of the country’s newest budget carrier.

• You’ve done a lot of NGO work in the past. What was your most memorable and rewarding experience? 

My NGO work has been mainly in the arts and in environmental protection. Watching brilliant performances of our talented dancers and musicians is exhilarating and more than makes up for the time that I volunteer for these art companies. I work with marine scientists and volunteer scuba divers in reef monitoring and conservation efforts. We have a turtle rehabilitation facility in my beach house for stranded and injured marine turtles. Tending to and releasing sea turtles rank tops in memorable and rewarding experiences.   

• How did you meet Tony Fernandes (AirAsia founder and group CEO. AirAsia Bhd owns 40 percent of AirAsia Philippines while the rest is owned in equal shares by Antonio Cojuangco, Mikee Romero, and Maan Hontiveros)? Can you tell us about your work at Warner Music Philippines?

I visited the Warner Music affiliates in Singapore and Malaysia to enable me to decide whether or not I would accept the position of managing director and the challenge of setting-up Warner Music Philippines.  Tony Fernandes was managing director of Malaysia. He gave me a tour of his facilities and a quick intro to the business of music.  I instantly liked him for his intelligence, charisma,  enthusiasm, and great sense of humor. He convinced me that I would find the music business very interesting and fun. We got along extremely well both professionally and as friends. We also shared a belief in ASEAN and cross-promoted our local artists around the region.

• How different/similar is the music industry from the airline industry? What adjustments did you have to make in terms of your management style, skill sets, etc?

They are similar in that you need to manage your costs to make your product/service affordable to a great number of people.  The business fundamentals are the same for both.  Both businesses need to stimulate demand with aggressive sales and marketing, branding, and the use of social media.  Both deal with products that have limited shelf life.  Seats expire once your check in counter closes.  In music, they say “today’s hit is tomorrow’s shit”.  You have to be very quick to get to market and sell through early.

But they are very dissimilar as well.  Running an airline requires a much larger team and workforce.  In Warner Music, I had a team of less than 30 managers and staff. In AirAsia, we are just about to start flying and already, with just two aircraft to operate, but I have a team of nearly 120 on staff, 40 or so more on training, and many more coming onboard. This excludes call center, ground handling, catering, engineering maintenance and support services which are all outsourced.   And of course, in the airline business, safety is of paramount importance and concern.

• What made you accept the task of running AirAsia Inc? Any regrets?

I believe we will succeed in building a truly great value airline that will serve the needs of the Filipino traveller and invigorate the tourism industry in the Philippines. Our country has lagged so far behind our ASEAN neighbors in visitor arrivals and this is so unfortunate when we have so much to offer.  This is a challenge and opportunity I could not pass by. I have watched Tony Fernandes build AirAsia Malaysia from a two-aircraft operation 10 years ago to becoming ASEAN’s most successful low cost airline. His joint ventures in Indonesia and Thailand have been very successful. These companies have contributed greatly to the phenomenal increase in air travel in their countries. They made air travel affordable and lived up to their mantra:  “Now Everyone Can Fly!” I want that same kind of success and growth in air travel and tourism for the Philippines.

My only regret is that I don’t have enough time to play my guitar!  I used to play two to three hours a day. Now I can barely manage half an hour a day and I have to read through the pieces that I had been able to play from memory a year ago!

• How is it working/ being partners with Tonyboy Cojuangco and Mikee Romero?

Tony Cojuangco and Mikee Romero are young, dynamic, intelligent and wonderful partners.  They leave the day-to-day operations to me but are always accessible to me anytime I need to consult them.  I have known Tony a long time and we share a passion for and commitment to Filipino artists – in Ballet Philippines, the Manila Symphony Orchestra, Tanghalang Pilipino, Cinemalaya Foundation, the visual arts, and classical guitar. Tony has generously financed and supported all these artists over the last two decades. He is definitely one of my closest friends. I met Mikee Romero only a year ago and thanks to him, I have begun to appreciate basketball!

• What do you do for fun? What is a typical weekend for you?

I play guitar as often as I can. I like to have drinks and dinner with my friends whenever I find time on weeknights.  My weekends, when I am not working or travelling, are spent in my beach house with my dad, and sometimes – not often enough – with my siblings and their families and some friends.  At the beach, I scuba dive or snorkel, inspecting the reefs and picking up trash in the water!  I can spend hours in the sea. 

• What is the most memorable place you’ve been to and why? Any places you would like to visit soon? 

Tubbataha Reef, one of our most spectacular marine treasures. Scuba diving is both a passion and an advocacy. I have travelled to all parts of the Philippines, Asia and the world and there are many more places I want to see and explore.

• How would you describe the local aviation industry and how does AirAsia Philippines plan to compete and make a difference? 

The emergence of the low-cost carriers is good for the industry. As fares go down, the market expands. We believe that the market, particularly in northern and central Luzon where we have chosen to base our operations at Clark, has been under-served. We believe that the potential for growth is tremendous and we aim to play a big role in growing the market.  We want to grow the number of first time travellers and a new breed of frequent travellers with our new routes, affordable fares and exciting promotions. We have partnered with AirAsia Berhad which was voted Best Low Cost Airline three years running by Skytrax. We intend to deliver the same level of great value service at very low, affordable costs.  Our highly trained, experienced pilots, cabin crew, guest services staff and team are all geared up to welcoming our guests on our brand new Airbus A-320’s.  We want to prove that flying is affordable, reliable, safe and fun.

• What’s a typical workday for you?

The past year has hardly been typical, as far as work schedule is concerned. So I can’t really describe any typical workday as yet.  We completed the renovation of an old warehouse in Clark just two months ago. Until then, my team and I were working out of several locations in Manila, Makati and Taguig. Lately, I have been driving to our new headquarters in Clark at 6 in the morning to get there in less than 1-1/2 hours. I use the quiet hours in the morning to catch up with my email, correspondence, contracts, and the endless manuals and aviation related information I need to pore through. Weekly management meetings begin at 9 am and last about 2 hours. I have individual meetings with my various heads of departments whenever needed. I attend to matters dealing with regulators – the CAB or CAAP. I also personally interview candidates for key positions after they are vetted by our People Department. I normally try to knock off work at 6pm although once our operations start, I know that I will be on a 24/7 availability mode.

• What was the last book you’ve read and what are you currently reading?

“Under Water to Get Out of the Rain” by Trevor Norton. I am just about to start on Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.

• Any business personalities you admire? Why?

Tony Fernandes of course! He has a very agile mind, he knows his numbers, he leads by example, is a people person, is a charismatic leader, and is very successful.

• How many routes does AirAsia Phils expect to launch this year and where? Any new plane acquisitions/leases this year? 

We will be launching about four domestic and six regional destinations this year. We currently have two new Airbus A-320s and plan to lease two more within the year.

• Do you collect anything? Please tell us about it?

Sea Shells. Walking the beach at low tide and finding little treasures - beautiful sea shells (provided they are empty of any inhabitants!) is a very calming, almost meditative activity. (I pick up trash along the way, of course). I then wash and clean them, set them out on the picnic table to dry, and classify and store them in see through containers – with the intention of someday (in the rainy season) getting my nieces and nephews to create art pieces and crafts out of them. Collecting satisfies the need to acquire material things. This is a great alternative to shopping!  And it’s free.

• You have always been considered an activist. How does that influence the way you run/ manage a business?

I am very open and transparent with my team.  Even though I am hands-on and I roll up my sleeves and get my hands grimy with work, I don’t like to micro manage. I trust my heads of departments and staff to do their work and deliver results. But I expect them to be totally upfront with me and keep me informed so I can make quick, timely decisions. Taking on new challenges has always appealed to me. I am not afraid to ask questions, I readily admit it whenever I know little or nothing about something, and I am eager to learn from my staff.

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