Captain Sahar: AirAsia's Pilot with Engaging Flight Announcement

I flew Air Asia flight AK402 from Padang to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday morning, 25 April 2015.  It is a normal brief 50 minute morning flight, except for one thing, Captain Announcement before take-off.

He introduced himself as Captain Sahar and his co-pilot, First Officer Kawai.  Unlike other lame Captain Announcement, he delivered it in very enjoyable and entertaining way, in English with American accent.  He described our flight path and what to anticipate in more details than other pilots will do, especiallly for such short flight Padang to Kuala Lumpur.  We will circle over Padang then pass over city of Pekan Baru, continue to fly over city of Dumai before crossing strait of Malacca and approach Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLAI) via Port Dickson.  We will cruise at 31,000 feet above sea level and start descent after 18 minutes of cruising.  He even told us that his First Officer Kawai will be in charge for take off and he will do the landing later at KLIA.    

I found him sincerely human when he said "May I suggest our guests not to fall asleep too soon as breathtaking view of Sumatera west coastline with scattered small islands and beautiful Bukit Barisan Mountain on the other side are waiting for you while our airplane circle over city of Padang to gain altitude".

By the way, Captain Sahar is pretty religious man.  He mentioned InshaAllah and MashaAllah a few times when making announcement.

He did make announcement in Bahasa Malaysia as well.  Although it was not as entertaining as English  version, he clearly tried his best in reading the text.  He even made a 'Pantun' to make it little bit enjoyable.

I am always amazed by people like Captain Sahar who put a lot of passion in whatever they do.  He does not merely deliver his main service of flying passengers from one point to another, but goes extra miles by making effort to engage people in very human way.

When off-boarding at KLIA, Captain Sahar joined flight attendants waving passengers good bye, thanking them for fly AirAsia and wish a good day.  I paused my steps for a few seconds right in front him to say "I really enjoyed your announcement, Captain.  It's very cool!". He smiled and humbly replied "Thank you very much, Sir.  I really appreciate it."

I feel like flying First Class, instead of budget!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I had the same pleasant experience going to Bangkok last month! Captain Sahar should be voted as the Best Air Asia's Pilot.
Chooyaya! said…
He become a viral now at FB when he gv this pantun of Mee maggie cup and said
'jangan cakap captain tak payung' at the end of the announcement.
OMG he is so hilarious. Must be so fun and down to earth person.
wonder how he look like :)
FraFauzi said…
Chooyaya...agree...best...I gelak lepas dengar his annoucement. His English accent is pretty much decent. When it comes to Bahasa, I can't hold back from laughing.

Credit to your stories on my FB :-) I am sharing your story as well.

Slan!
Chooyaya! said…
FraFauzi : Is that you the original person one who shared at FB this story thing? Or you share my post from FB from the owner of the audio Ms Izwah Ibrahim? Anyway, nice to meet you here :) Drop by my blog sometime plzzzz.
Thanks for dropping by, FraFauzi & Chooyaya!
FraFauzi said…
Choyaya..not me..i am just sharing as well..will definitely check your blog soon..muah!..mr Delil...nice blog..i had fun reading it.
FraFauzi said…
Choyaya..not me..i am just sharing as well..will definitely check your blog soon..muah!..mr Delil...nice blog..i had fun reading it.
mya adelia said…
I also wonder how he looks like... Mr Delil... Will you describe how he looks like? I wish one day I'm able to hear his announcement myself...
Anonymous said…
just in case u wonder what he looks like, he looks like this https://www.facebook.com/frizdan/videos/10208568413681162/ :-)
Hi all,

Wonder how Captain Sahar looks like? Click this story kabacarito: AirAsia's Captain Sahar

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