In a remarkable shift from the aviation industry to full-time content creation, Gaurav Taneja, widely recognized as ‘Flying Beast’ on the internet, recently disclosed that he is now earning more than the CEO of AirAsia, the very airline that terminated his employment.
The turbulent episode in Taneja’s career transpired when he was let go by AirAsia in June 2020. His dismissal followed his outspoken concerns regarding safety standard violations by the budget carrier. Taneja asserted that AirAsia had instructed pilots to perform 98% of landings in ‘Flap 3’ mode to economize on fuel, albeit at the expense of passenger safety.
Already a prominent vlogger, Taneja made the pivotal decision to plunge into content creation full time during the pandemic. Presently, he commands a vast audience of 8.6 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, with millions more following him across platforms such as Instagram and Twitter.
In a recent interview, which was posted on YouTube just three days ago, Taneja was repeatedly pressed to divulge the precise extent of his earnings from brand endorsements and advertisements. The former pilot turned YouTuber declined to provide an exact figure but proudly asserted that he is now outearning the CEO of the very airline that showed him the exit.
He confidently stated, “Bhai jis company ne fire kiya than na, AirAsia ne, uske CEO se zyada kama raha hun main.”
In earlier segments of the interview, Taneja unveiled that his primary sources of income today stem from revenues accrued through advertisements and brand endorsements. Back in his pilot days, he was drawing a modest monthly salary of around Rs 60,000.
Gaurav Taneja, hailing from Kanpur, pursued his education in civil engineering at the prestigious IIT Kharagpur prior to obtaining his pilot’s license. His aviation journey commenced with Indigo. As a multifaceted content creator and bodybuilder, he maintains three highly popular YouTube channels: Flying Beast, Fit Muscle TV, and Rasbhari Ke Papa.
AirAsia’s CEO, Tony Fernandes, boasts an impressive net worth of $335 million, as per Forbes. Notably, he recently attracted attention for an unconventional act of conducting a meeting shirtless while receiving a massage, a move that incurred criticism on social media.
