PAL Holdings, Inc. has appointed Lucio C. Tan III as its president, taking over the post of his grandfather, Lucio C. Tan, who retained his role as chairman and chief executive officer.
“As the newly designated President of PAL Holdings, I am committed to providing stability and upholding the highest level of integrity within the company,” said Mr. Tan III in a statement on Thursday.
“I look forward to working closely with the Philippine Airlines (PAL) team, under the leadership of its president and chief operating officer, Stanley K. Ng, to ensure a collaborative and cohesive approach in serving the best interests of our customers,” he said.
At the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Thursday, Mr. Tan III delivered the chairman’s message, which cited a need to rebuild PAL’s product and fleet.
“We face major challenges just the same. We must resolve many operational and supply problems that hinder PAL from extending the best possible service to its customers,” he said.
“Philippine Airlines needs to be a stronger competitor and a leader in service and innovation. This is imperative for a company that aims to be the airline of choice in the market it serves, which is the vision we defined for our flag carrier,” he added.
He noted that the strong economic upswing and the rebound of travel have helped the airline recover and thrive.
“As a result, we registered a positive operating income and total comprehensive income for 2022, with similar good results for the first quarter of 2023,” he said.
PAL Holdings is the parent firm of PAL and another subsidiary Air Philippines Corp.
In the first quarter, PAL Holdings booked a more than four times jump in attributable net income to P4.65 billion from P1.08 billion a year ago. Its revenues rose by 78.7% to P42.21 billion from P23.62 billion after the number of passengers it carried more than doubled to 3.4 million.
Earlier this month, LT Group, Inc. named Mr. Tan III as president, replacing his uncle Michael G. Tan. The 30-year-old executive is the son of the late Lucio Tan Jr.
“During the transition, he shared decision-making responsibilities for business and operational matters with his uncle,” LT Group has said.
Mr. Tan III is also serving as the chief operating officer and vice-chairman of LT Group concurrently with his post. He also serves as Tanduay Distillers, Inc. president and chief operating officer.
On Thursday, shares in PAL Holdings went down by 35 centavos or 6.17% to P5.32 each. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
