MANILA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine Airlines (PAL) said on Monday that its board of directors has appointed Gilbert Santa Maria as its new president and chief operating officer (COO).
PAL said in a statement that a 15-man board has unanimously approved Santa Maria, a handpicked nominee of PAL chairman and CEO Lucio Tan. He called on all PAL executives and staff to support Santa Maria.
"Let's work together and help him face PAL's many challenges," Tan said.
For his part, Santa Maria urged his fellow PAL workers to help him achieve Tan's vision of making PAL "the airline of choice across all markets it serves."
"Maintaining the current level of service is important and of course, profitability. Let us do our share to make PAL reach greater heights. I will be with you every step of the way," he added.
Santa Maria has three decades of executive management and leadership experience gained across multiple industries in companies around the world, according to the statement.
For the last 15 years, he was a key leader and contributor in the Philippines' highly successful Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry.
Until early 2018, he was COO of Washington-based BPO company IBEX Global and was responsible for its 18,000 employees around the world.
Santa maria replaced former PAL President Jaime Bautista who retired last month.
PAL, which is one of the oldest commercial airlines in Asia, is the flag carrier of the Philippines.
