Goh Choon Phong, who is the chief executive officer of Singapore Airlines (SIA), will be joining the board of Indian airlines Air India, post its merger with Vistara (a joint venture between Tata Group and SIA) on November 12.
PB Balaji, who serves as the group chief financial officer at Tata Motors too will be joining the Air India board, as per reports.
The board at Air India will approve these appointments only after the Ministry of Civil Aviation green signals Singapore Airline’s investment, which as highlighted in a report, would give the carrier 25.1 percent stake in the airline.
Hamish Maxwell, who previously led flight operations for Vistara, has been roped in as the chief operating officer for Air India express, Air India’s low cost subsidiary.
It has been reported that the Tata Group will take the lead in Air India’s management, and SIA will send officials who will play a role in supporting flight operations and engineering post the merger.
Phong joined Singapore Airlines (SIA) in 1990, and has held senior management positions in Singapore and overseas with the Company. He joined SIA’s Board on 1 October 2010 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer on 1 January 2011.
Prior to his current appointment, Phong was Executive Vice President Marketing and the Regions and President of SIA Cargo. Previous roles with SIA included Senior Vice President Finance, Senior Vice President Information Technology, and Senior Vice President Commercial Technology, and his overseas assignments were in China and Scandinavia.