Twitter, the popular micro-blogging site, will miss one of its most visible business personalities from May 1. AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes, who had raised eyebrows in the past by making important announcements on Twitter, now feels enough is enough and wants to ‘log off’ from the site.
In a tweet on Saturday, that took many by surprise, Fernandes wrote: ?April 30th will be my last day on Twitter. But will be at my best till then. Only one will be the same after that day and I’m a superhoop.?
Tony broke a slew of ‘stories’ on Twitter ? from the joint venture with Tatas to the appointment of Ratan Tata as chief advisor to AirAsia board, picking of a Chennai boy Mittu Chandillya as its CEO and the recent arrival of the airline’s first aircraft in Chennai airport. ?Reaching 50 years old. I think time for me to quit twitter. Think I spend too much time on it. It’s been awesome but time to move on. Thoughts,? he wrote further.
Fernandes has over 9.64 lakh followers on Twitter and has 11,000 tweets under his Twitter handle. When Fernandes announced the appointment of Ratan Tata on Twitter in June last year, it took the whole world by surprise. ?Persuading Mr Tata to be advisor has not been easy. Critical we have someone of his massive experience to help me chart AirAsia India with Mittu and myself,? he had tweeted then.
While in Chennai last year, he had told journalists, who were fighting for exclusive bites, that Twitter helped him connect with them easily.
Tony discussed almost everything under the sun on Twitter and kept his followers posted of his thoughts and actions while on the move. He took a special interest on Malaysia and its fledgling economy. ?It’s time we all take responsibility and it’s my responsibility to educate all Malaysians what I know. I ask all Malaysians to follow me. If you care for our great country please follow me. There are important messages I’m going to be posting,? he wrote recently.
Fernandes used Twitter for almost all purposes. When AirAsia withdrew its latest inflight magazine, expressing deep regret for an article boasting that its well-trained pilots would never lose a plane, which many thought was in bad taste in the wake of the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane, he wrote on Saturday: ?As soon as we were informed on Twitter, we withdrew. Once again, apologies. It has been a difficult time for all in the industry.?
As expected, there were a hue and cry on Twitter over Fernandes’ decision to exit the space. Many people asked him to stay put. Responding to one fellow Twitteratti’s comment, on age factor, Fernandes said: ?Nothing to do with 50. You always got to change and adapt. Will find new ways to communicate. Got to keep refreshing yourself.?