An assistant manager in AirAsia’s financial operations department travels nearly 800 km round trip every day to get to the office.
Racheal Kaur, an assistant manager in AirAsia’s financial operations department, flies to work every day, both in the morning and evening.
From Monday to Friday, she travels nearly 400km (250 miles) each way between her home in Penang, in northwestern Malaysia, and her office in Sepang, near the capital Kuala Lumpur.
In an interview, Racheal Kaur explained that this daily routine stems from her desire to spend more time with her two children, aged 11 and 12.
On weekdays, she gets up at 4 a.m., gets ready, and then goes to the airport at 5 a.m. to board the 5:55 a.m. flight. The plane ride takes between 30 and 40 minutes.
Every flight gives me the opportunity to take some time for myself. I pray, I reflect on my life and then I listen to music while looking at nature through the window.
Racheal Kaur arrives at the office around 7:45 a.m. After a day of work, she takes an evening flight back home around 7:30 p.m. “When I tell people this, some people say I’m crazy,” says the Malaysian.
Previously, she rented a place in Kuala Lumpur and only saw her family on weekends. But as she watched her children grow up, she felt the need to be present every day.
Getting up every day at 4am is exhausting but as soon as I come home and see my children, all the tiredness disappears. It’s a joy.
It was in early 2024 that she made the decision to commute by plane every day, a solution that has allowed her to improve her work-life balance. “When I’m in the office, I can be 100% focused on my work. And when I come home, I’m 100% focused on my family.”
According to CNA Insider, this option costs her less than housing close to her workplace, including transportation and meal costs. Thanks to this new arrangement, she was able to save money. Her monthly expenses, which were previously $474, have now dropped to $316.
