The president and chief operating office of the Philippine Airlines since 2022 is a die-hard customer in the free market of ideas.
Stanley Ng embraces ideas no matter where it comes from. With his impeccable eight-year track record with the country’s flag carrier, it may be said that the airline is in good hands.
Without a doubt, Ng is not only a first-rate pilot or a so-called top gun, but is also an excellent corporate manager.
In September 2021, PAL applied for bankruptcy in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic that saw global finances plunge to new lows.
Just a year after, PAL, reputedly the oldest commercial airline in Asia, overshot its monthly targets in 2022 and sustained the strong performance moving forward.
With Ng at the helm, the Lucio Tan led-airline was able to turn its bottom line from red to black.
Industry experts call it “revenge travel”, as passengers excitedly took to the skies once again after being grounded for two years or so due to the lockdowns amid the pandemic.
Management-wise, Ng’s leadership style is all about openness and inclusiveness, encouraging transparency and participation as the operative words for a winning team.
He believes that it is only human to make mistakes, but pitfalls should be taken as hard lessons to learn and move on from there.
“The most important thing I tell people is to think again,” he was quoted as saying.
“Ask yourself, ‘maybe I could be wrong?’ It’s an important mindset for everyone because if you become over-confident, you will not listen, and you will not be open to ideas,” he said.
“Once you have that engagement from people, and they know they will be heard, ideas will keep flowing. They will feel empowered. Never stop a good idea from flourishing,” he told the CEO Magazine.
Owing to his policy of candidness and engagement, Ng has a particular dislike for timidity and reticence.
“We must be willing to take risks, to try something new. If we don’t, we are going to have the status quo, and nothing is going to change,” he said.
With Ng as overall skipper, PAL continues to establish rapport and mutual understanding with customers through public communications.
The airline enhances its Mabuhay Miles promo to “improve customer engagement”. PAL also plans to refurbish its aircraft with new in-flight entertainment systems and enhanced on-board internet.
“Connectivity should be a basic service,” Ng said. “My personal assessment is that we have to work hard to keep up with technology and innovation. We need to invest in the latest technology and aircraft.”
According to him, despite PAL’s robust financial performance, it is nevertheless wary of the competition.
“Other airlines are becoming aggressive with their pricing, so we need to show passengers that we are different, that there’s a reason they should fly Philippine Airlines over other carriers,” he said.
Ng always looks at his role in PAL in a larger picture. It is not only doing what is good for the company, but for the whole country as well.
He said his job as PAL president covers the entire spectrum of corporate operations, from dealing with suppliers to bringing in tourists to being a virtual ambassador of goodwill for the country.
“To help the world get to know the Philippines and to meaningfully serve the country is always top of my mind,” he said.
Ng sums up his job in this manner. “My purpose is more than managing the airline. It is giving back to the Philippines, trying to help it grow economically and to bring in more foreign investments.”
He said PAL is just a tool to help the government attain its tourism targets in terms of visitor arrivals.
Founded on Feb. 26, 1941, PAL’s ownership had a roller-coaster ride from private to public sector, until Tan’s HR Holdings acquired majority shares in January 1992.
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