The Office Boy Who Became An AirAsia Pilot Through His Sheer Determination And Hard Work
A Malaysian boy who never stopped believing in his dream to fly.
By Sadho Ram — 09 Apr 2016, 05:05 PM
'Nothing is impossible', a phrase we all are way too familiar with. However, we hardly come across someone who epitomises it. And AirAsia's wonderboy Kugan Tangiisuran is one such person.
Hailing from Perai in Penang, Kugan had aspired to become a pilot since he was eight. However, it wasn't going to be an easy ride.
After Kugan finished school, he couldn't study to become a pilot as the courses were too expensive for his middle-class family.
"I ended up studying in the hospitality management field and worked in various hotels in Penang for several years,” Kugan was quoted as saying my FMT.
"Then, one day, a friend who worked with AirAsia told me to join the company. He said it gave opportunities to its staff to move between departments," said Kugan, following which he applied for a job with the airline and was offered the position of despatch boy. Kugan, who wasn't put off by the offer, saw the post of an office boy as a stepping stone to his childhood dream to fly and joined AirAsia in 2006.
In the same year, Kugan passed the exam to become a cadet pilot
However, a policy which required Kugan to have served for at least two years at his current department dashed his hopes and he wasn't allowed to proceed further.
It didn't deter him. Kugan continued carrying out despatch duties and delivering letters while still keeping alive his dream of becoming a pilot one day.
For the next seven years, he kept trying, sitting for exam three more times. Throughout the seven years, even after numerous failures, Kugan never gave up and applied 11 times and sat for 4 qualification examinations.
His perseverance caught the attention of none other than AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes, who personally pushed him to keep trying.
Then in 2013, Kugan successfully passed all the required exams and was accepted into Asia Pacific Flight Training (APFT). He completed his training at APFT to become a co-pilot in June last year.
Following which, later in August, he took to the controls of a regular passenger plane for the first time, co-piloting a flight to Miri, describing the experience as a combination of excitement and nervousness as he finally lived his childhood dream.
"I was nervous, but not afraid, as I was confident of what I had learned."