Air India To Welcome Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong To Its Board Post Vistara Merger

Following Air India's November 12 merger with Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines (SIA), Goh Choon Phong, the CEO of SIA, will join the board of Indian airlines.

According to sources, PB Balaji, the group chief financial officer of Tata Motors, will also be joining the Air India board.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation must accept Singapore Airline's investment before the Air India board can approve these nominations. As noted in an ET story, Singapore Airlines would receive a 25.1 per cent interest in the airline.

Air India Express has hired Hamish Maxwell, who previously oversaw flight operations for Vistara, as its chief operational officer. Air India is a low-cost carrier.

According to reports, SIA would send representatives who will help with flight operations and engineering after the merger, with the Tata Group taking the lead in managing Air India.

Phong began working for Singapore Airlines (SIA) in 1990 and has since held senior managerial roles both domestically and abroad. On October 1, 2010, he became a member of the SIA Board, and on January 1, 2011, he was named Chief Executive Officer.

Phong was the president of SIA Cargo and executive vice president of marketing and the regions before taking his current position. His previous deployments abroad were in China and Scandinavia. Prior positions held by him at SIA were senior vice president finance, senior vice president information technology, and senior vice president commercial technology.