Wikipedia

Goh Choon Phong

In this Chinese name, the family name is Goh.

Goh Choon Phong (simplified Chinese: 吴俊鹏; traditional Chinese: 吳俊鵬; pinyin: Wú Jùn Péng) is a Singaporean businessman who is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Singapore Airlines and Singapore Airlines Cargo. He was formally appointed to be the CEO on 1 January 2011 in an announcement dated 3 September 2010.[1] Prior to his appointment, he worked for the SIA group for more than 20 years for the airlines' operations in China and Scandinavia.[2]

Goh Choon Phong
吴俊鹏
Mr Goh Choon Phong (Left) onboard the new Singapore Airlines B787-10
BornJuly 1963
State of Singapore (now Republic of Singapore)
NationalitySingaporean
Alma materHwa Chong Junior College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Occupation(s)CEO of Singapore Airlines
CEO of Singapore Airlines Cargo
Chairman of Budget Aviation Holdings

Early life and education

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Goh was born in July 1963 in Singapore.[3] He graduated from Hwa Chong Junior College, and is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, majoring in computer science, management science and cognitive science.[4] He also holds Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.[5]

Career

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Goh joined Singapore Airlines after finishing his Masters degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a cadet administrative officer, fulfilling the sponsorship Singapore Airlines offered to him to pursue his studies at MIT.[4]

Subsequently, Goh rose up the ranks, taking on appointments such as Senior Vice President of Commercial Technology, Senior Vice President of Information Technology, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Chairman of SilkAir, a former subsidiary of Singapore Airlines which has since merged with Singapore Airlines. He was appointed as CEO of Singapore Airlines on 1 January 2011, replacing outgoing CEO Chew Choon Seng who was retiring.[6][7]

As CEO, Goh led the airline group in its expansion phase post 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis and the subsequent recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic, which brought the aviation industry to a halt in the early 2020s. Notably, the group recovered strongly post-pandemic, and achieved a record annual profit of S$2.68 billion in fiscal year 2023-2024.[8][9] Also under his leadership, he headed the consolidation of Singapore Airlines Group's business, merging its two wholly-owned budget carriers Tigerair and Scoot into a single entity Scoot, and the merger of SilkAir, a wholly-owned full service carrier subsidiary, into the main carrier Singapore Airlines.[10][11][12][13] He also oversaw Singapore Airline's joint venture with Tata Group to form a new Indian full service carrier, Vistara, and the subsequent merger of Vistara with Air India, in which Singapore Airlines obtained a 25.1% stake in the newly rebranded airline.[14][15]

Goh also looked after Singapore Airlines' response to the SQ321 incident, where severe turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin hit the Singapore Airlines B777-300ER plane enroute from London Heathrow Airport to Singapore Changi Airport, resulting in a fatality and leaving many severely injured.[16][17]

In recognition of his efforts, Goh was awarded with accolades such as the 2015 Centre for Aviation’s Asia-Pacific Airline CEO of the Year award, 2016 Eisenhower Global Innovation Award from the Business Council for International Understanding, 2017 Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in the Business Time's Singapore Business Awards, 2019 Singapore Corporate Award's Best Chief Executive Officer for companies with $1 billion or more in market capitalization, and Tatler's Asia Most Influential 2022 & 2023.[18][19][20][21][22] Most recently in 2024, Goh was awarded the 2024 Excellence in Leadership Award at the Air Transport World (ATW) magazine’s annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards.[23][24]

Goh is currently also a member of the National University of Singapore's Board of Trustees, and an independent director of Mastercard.[25][26]

References

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  1. ^ "Goh Choon Phong is next SIA CEO". AsiaOne. 3 September 2010. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010.
  2. ^ "Goh Choon Phong". Star Alliance. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Choon Phong GOH personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b Sehl, Katie. "C-Suite in Profile: Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong". APEX. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  5. ^ "National University of Singapore Board of Trustees Annex" (PDF). National University of Singapore.
  6. ^ "Singapore Airlines names new CEO". Air Cargo News. 6 September 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Management Team". Singapore Airlines. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Singapore Airlines posts record annual profit, flags challenging global conditions". CNA. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Singapore Airlines' CEO Gets Pay Bump After Record Profit". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Scoot and Tiger to merge as Singapore Airlines consolidates budget wing". Yahoo Finance. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Scoot-Tigerair merger moves one step closer with a new Singapore Airlines Group LCC holding company". CAPA - Centre for Aviation. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  12. ^ Ng, Huiwen (18 May 2018). "SilkAir to merge with Singapore Airlines: 5 things to know about the regional carrier". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  13. ^ "SilkAir ceases operations & merges with Singapore Airlines". mothership.sg. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  14. ^ Kaur, Karamjit (7 December 2016). "He piloted SIA through rough weather". The New Paper. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Singapore Airlines to acquire 25.1% stake in Air India under deal with Tata". CNA. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  16. ^ Sreenivasan, Ven (26 May 2024). "Well done, stay calm and seek help from company, SIA CEO tells staff in memo". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Singapore Airlines: CEO apologises for deadly 'traumatic' flight". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  18. ^ "SIA's Goh Choon Phong and Lion Group's Rusdi Kirana honoured at 2015 CAPA Asia Pacific awards dinner". CAPA - Centre for Aviation. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  19. ^ "2017, Singapore Business Awards - THE BUSINESS TIMES". www.businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  20. ^ "2019, Singapore Corporate Awards - THE BUSINESS TIMES". www.businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  21. ^ Asia, Tatler. "Goh Choon Phong". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  22. ^ Kaur, Karamjit (6 December 2016). "SIA CEO conferred coveted business award for transforming the airline; first SEA recipient". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  23. ^ Sreenivasan, Ven (29 February 2024). "SIA CEO Goh Choon Phong and Scoot win industry accolades". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  24. ^ Olanday, Clifford. "How these Asian airline industry leaders are spearheading the resurgence of air travel". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  25. ^ "Board of Trustees". National University of Singapore. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  26. ^ "Mastercard Board of Directors". Mastercard Investor.
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