PAL pilot takes seat as new president/COO

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has named a new captain to pilot the company in its recovery path.

PAL announced yesterday the appointment of its senior vice president for airline operations Stanley Ng as the company’s new president and chief operating officer (COO), in an acting or officer-in-charge capacity.

Ng replaces Gilbert Santa Maria, who served as the airline’s president and COO during PAL’s Chapter 11 restructuring process which the company completed last year.

PAL did not disclose the reason why Santa Maria was replaced.

However, in a statement issued by PAL management yesterday, its board expressed gratitude to Santa Maria for his “steady stewardship of the company over the last two and a half years.”

Santa Maria was named PAL president and COO in July 2019, following the retirement of Jaime Bautista.

Santa Maria will continue to make himself available to assist in the leadership transition over the next few weeks, according to the flag carrier.

PAL said its board expressed full trust and confidence in Ng, as well as in its senior management team which remains intact.

PAL looks to maintain the momentum toward full recovery after exiting Chapter 11 in less than four months after its filing on Sept. 3, 2021 in the US.

Ng, who started as a member of the flag carrier’s on-ground staff in 2003 before training at the PAL aviation school, is the first pilot to assume the presidency of PAL since the early 1960s.

He is expected to bring a wealth of experience in the airline industry.

Ng rose from the ranks until he was promoted to senior vice president in 2019, where he was put in acharge of the airline’s internationally respected pilots and cabin crew, as well as operational airport and engineering teams.

Ng recently completed an Advance Management Program at Harvard Business School.

He took up Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Major in Computer Applications at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.