Singapore Airlines CEO to step down

Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng has signaled that he will step down soon, according to a Bloomberg report yesterday. “It’s at the mercy of the board, but I am getting on in years,” Chew, who turned 64 yesterday, told Bloomberg after a shareholders' meeting in Singapore. "I should move on.” Chew’s contract expires in December. He is credited with doubling the value of the airline’s shares since taking the helm in 2003. It has posted continual annual profits even as it faced multiple challenges such as SARS.

SIA is expected to begin searching soon for a new CEO. It this week reported net income of S$253 million ($184.7 million) for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, reversed from a S$307 million loss in the year-ago period (ATW Daily News, July 27).