Corporate Image, Shariah-Compliance and Public Perception of Rayani Air Islamic Airline

Abstract

In future, business aviation will emerge as the premium travel resource for public utilization. Most of the airlines corporation around world widely implement the standard corporate identity which by derived from Western culture for ages. Rayani Air was the fourth Islamic airline in world and the first Islamic carrier in Malaysia who offered Shariah-compliant service. It was established by the non-Muslim founders in order to fulfill the gap of needs and demands among the Malaysia customers and public who wants to work in the aviation field. Their establishment got spectrum attention from the top to bottom line of public in Malaysia and most of them are positive remarks and cherished by the Muslim especially. After excellent performance from its inaugural launching, their top notch reputation and credibility declined as they failed to solve several issues and crisis that occurred because of their management shortcomings. It tarnished the Islamic corporate image that they promoted as it against what they projected through their Shariah-compliant service. Based on the interview sessions with the informants who were the ex-customers of Rayani Air and interviews with the aviation and Shariah experts, the researcher found that their perceptions were changed like a fluid from positive to negative when it comes to this company's corporate image.