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Stanley Ng confirmed as PAL president and COO
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Shareholders confirmed the appointment of Ng at their annual general meeting on May 26
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They also approved the appointment of PAL chairman Lucio Tan’s daughters Shiela T. Pascual and Vivian K. Tan, as well as Jerome S. Tan and as David Uy Ong as new directors of the airline
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Following breakthrough profits in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, PAL said there are indications of positive results for the first two months of the second quarter
Philippine Airlines (PAL) shareholders have confirmed Stanley K. Ng’s appointment as president and chief operating officer.
Shareholders approved the appointment of Ng, a former pilot of the airline and also the son-in-law of PAL chairman and billionaire Lucio C. Tan, in their annual general meeting on May 26.
They also confirmed the appointments of Tan’s daughters Shiela Tan-Pascual and Vivienne K. Tan, as well as Jerome Tan and David Uy Ong as new directors of the PAL board.
Pascual and Tan were elected to fill vacant board positions, while Tan and Ong will take over the seats of independent directors Florentino Herrera and Mark Chen, who have completed their service on the board.
Ng was appointed by the PAL board in January as president and COO in an acting capacity. The shareholders’ approval in a vote formalized his appointment, the flag carrier said in a statement.
“I am humbled by the trust and confidence of our PAL board and stockholders,” said Ng, who replaced Gilbert F. Santa Maria, the executive who, along with Ng, helped steer PAL into its Chapter 11 restructuring late last year.
Ng is married to Tan’s daughter Lilybeth, who is and assistant vice president of PAL for Pilot Affairs. He is the first pilot to assume the presidency of the airline since the 1960s.
The new president began his career with the airline as an on-ground staff in 2003 before becoming a second officer in 2008. In 2019, he was promoted to senior vice president.
In a press release sent to Esquire Philippines after his appointment in January, Ng said: “From check-in to passenger boarding, I was exposed to everything that went on at the airport. It helped me understand the problems that the airline staff and customers would encounter.”
He went to the PAL Aviation School to obtain a degree in flying and further trained at the Airbus Training Center in Toulouse, France. After that, he went to Harvard Business School to complete the Advanced Management Program.
Ng said he “discovered a lot about my purpose while taking the management program at Harvard. I realized there is confidence in experience and strength in humility. That’s the kind of leadership I’d like to bring into PAL.”
So far, under Ng’s leadership, PAL returned to profitability in the first quarter of this year after losses amounting to P5.3 billion a year earlier.
READ: PAL returns to profitability, books $22M Q1 net gain
At the stockholders’ meeting, PAL reported an operating income of US$33.8 million (P1.7 billion) and net comprehensive income of $22.6 million (P1.2 billion) for the first quarter of the year, which come on the heels of a $1.22 million (P62.7 billion) comprehensive income for the 2021 calendar year.
PAL said there are indications of positive results in the first two months of the second quarter, as the airline ramps up its international and domestic flights amid a travel market recovery from the doldrums of the past two years due to the pandemic.
PAL voluntarily filed for bankruptcy in New York in September 2021 to implement a restructuring plan that will help it navigate the COVID-19 crisis.
READ: PAL for bankruptcy in the US
The carrier emerged from its Chapter 11 restructuring in December 2021.
The airline now expects to restore its domestic service to pre-pandemic levels within the second or third quarter of 2022, while continually adding flights on key international routes to the US, Canada, and parts of the Middle East and Asia.
