Man who built top Airbus customer exits with cozy deals in focus

Airbus and AirAsia, the discount airline built by Tony Fernandes, were inseparable for years, with the boisterous aviation executive gorging on ever-larger aircraft orders to become the manufacturer’s single biggest customer for single-aisle jets. That happy marriage ended in acrimony last week after Airbus admitted to illegally trying to sway decision makers in aircraft sales and agreed to a record $4b bribery settlement. By Monday, Fernandes stepped away from the Malaysian airline he had acquired in 2001 and turned into one of the best-known brands in Asian aviation. Fernandes, 55, was one of Airbus’s most loyal customers, a fixture at air shows where he would make a splash with massive orders. He was also a poster-boy entrepreneur who bucked the stodgy formalities of traditional business. Among his most memorable moments was in 2014, when he signed Airbus’s biggest deal at that year’s Farnborough expo and proceeded to exchange kisses and man-hugs with the European company’s legendary, since departed sales chief, John Leahy. Now the corruption probe which has ricocheted through Airbus for almost four years, and already claimed the scalps of many of its senior staff, is coming for its airline counterparts. Fernandes will leave his role as CEO of AirAsia for two months while the government probes corruption allegations, according to a statement Monday. Chairman Kamarudin Meranun also stepped down, in a growing sign of further repercussions from the long-running bribery case. Fernandes, who is already facing corruption charges in India, and Meranun on Monday denied allegations of wrongdoing but made the move to ensure a full and independent investigation.<br/>