♥ Wednesday, July 28
Singapore Airlines (SIA) chief executive Chew Choon Seng will step down at the end of this year when his contract expires, the carrier said Tuesday.
The airline said in a brief statement to AFP that an announcement on Chew's replacement would be made once the board has made a decision on the candidate.
Chew, 64, joined SIA in 1972 and rose through the ranks to become chief executive in 2003.
That year, he steered the airline during one of its worst crisis when travel demand was squeezed by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) health scare.
SIA reported Monday a first quarter net profit of 253 million Singapore dollars (185.65 million US) as the travel industry continued to recover from the global economic slump that started in 2008.
The April-June performance was a sharp turnaround from a year ago when SIA incurred a net loss of 307 million dollars as travel demand slumped because of the downturn.
SIA is one of the world's leading carriers and is consistently voted by travellers as one of their favourite airlines
4/9 '10 loves x3 11:23 PM