Airlines In The Philippines III

[ewh1]

Beyond Oneworld though, he was an executive board member at Skyteam and led the reforms of its governance structure.

https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/4/23/philippine-airlines-names-new-president-1351

His mandate for sure, is to the airline first, but always helps to have direct connections as well.

Also fun fact, he’s not new to PAL. He served as senior commercial advisor for months in 1999, which I assume was during or after Cathay Pacific took over routes until PAL could sort itself out? Maybe they were helping to reestablish the business besides operating the domestic trunk routes? Any insight?

https://www.rappler.com/business/corporate/richard-nutall-philippine-airlines-president/

[Arianespace]

He was connected with Cathay, loaned to PAL for CX valuation purposes towards eventual sale, which of course fell through as LT ended up shouldering the $200 million as a condition for corporate rehab, which PAL pre-terminated in 2006 i think. He has gone full circle.

Also, I would like to share this in addition to the earlier posts

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is set to name British aviation veteran Richard Nuttall as its new president, industry sources told The STAR.

The move marks the first time in PAL’s 84-year history that it will put a foreigner at its helm, similar to what rival airline Cebu Pacific did in 2022 when it designated Mike Szucs, its chief executive adviser, as CEO.

Nuttall, who has held top and key positions in airlines including Sri Lankan Airlines, Bahrain Air, Royal Jordanian Airlines and Cathay Pacific, has expertise in airline growth and strategy development.

According to Asian Aviation, “Nuttall has a wealth of industry experience spanning three decades and five continents, having held multiple chief officer and board positions in aviation companies across the globe.”

His appointment comes at a time when PAL, like most airlines across the globe, is navigating a challenging aviation landscape marked by rising fuel cost and supply chain issues.

PAL, which has the largest international operations to and from the Philippines, also wants to strengthen its foothold in the global market given the growing competition, sources said.

He will work with Stan as his EVP, and newly appointed CPA Lawyer Carlos Luis Fernandez, who will assume the role of  Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective May 29. I don't know if he would still hold the General Counsel position.



Meanwhile, the apo continue to hold the CEO and President role of PAL Holdings. They should be in good hands.

[filipinoavgeek]

One thing to note is that, while he seemed to have success with SriLankan, prior to that he was also the head of the now-defunct Bahrain Air. I've even seen some blaming him for that airline's collapse, at least according to the comments or posts I saw from the time he was appointed by SriLankan.

[filipinoavgeek]

Speaking of alliances, given his links to SkyTeam and Oneworld, does him being PR president increase the chances of PR finally joining an alliance? Not even the ANA stake was enough for them to join Star Alliance. Maybe Oneworld then? PR is close to CX which is part of Oneworld and already has the American codeshare, plus IIRC they did try to join Oneworld before. OW is also fairly weak in SEA since they only have Malaysia Airlines, which is lacking in the North American market.

[JNC03]

Qatar Airways and Philippine Airlines have launched a strategic partnership to expand service between Doha and Manila, enabling greater connectivity for passengers from the Philippines traveling to Qatar and onwards to other regions of the world.

Starting from 16 June 2025, Philippine Airlines will offer daily nonstop flights between Manila and Doha. Qatar Airways will codeshare on the seven weekly flights operated by Philippine Airlines in the first phase of this strategic cooperation.


https://www.qatarairways.com/press-releases/en-WW/249277-qatar-airways-and-philippine-airlines-announce-new-strategic-partnership

[Solblanc]

JNC03 wrote

Qatar Airways and Philippine Airlines have launched a strategic partnership to expand service between Doha and Manila, enabling greater connectivity for passengers from the Philippines traveling to Qatar and onwards to other regions of the world.

Starting from 16 June 2025, Philippine Airlines will offer daily nonstop flights between Manila and Doha. Qatar Airways will codeshare on the seven weekly flights operated by Philippine Airlines in the first phase of this strategic cooperation.


https://www.qatarairways.com/press-releases/en-WW/249277-qatar-airways-and-philippine-airlines-announce-new-strategic-partnership

So it’s like the arrangement with MH…

All I can say is that economy passengers are in for a rude awakening transitioning from PAL’s product to Qatar’s product.

[JNC03]

Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) maintained its streak of continued profitability with a net
income of USD 77 Million (PHP 3.9 Billion) in the first quarter of 2025, the airline’s 14th
consecutive positive quarter since the pandemic.

The Philippine flag carrier generated USD 817 M (PHP 47.3 B) in revenues for Q1 2025,
a 1% decline driven by lower yields and the shift in the peak Holy Week traffic period
from March 2024 to April this year. Passenger carriage registered a 5% increase vs. Q1
2024 to 4.1 million passengers while PAL’s cargo business carried 52.6M kgs. of cargo
while operating over 28,000 flights across its international and domestic network. PAL
logged an operating income of USD 75 Million (PHP 4.4 Billion) for the quarter.

[Arianespace]

Arianespace wrote

Mahirap ba basahin yung registration?

Same plane used by PBBM on his flight to Italy for pope funeral, dubbed PH001. This plane is exclusively used by the President of the Philippines.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/rp-c5219#3a0bb9c3

Sa mga hindi pa nakaalam.

[JNC03]

His entourage used G650ER of MVP

[JNC03]

What is the whole backstory why PAL hired a foreigner as their president?

Is there any reasons aside from what they said from the statement and obvious things we talked about here.

[Arianespace]

Global perspective from management point of view.

As I previously said in the beginning of Stan appointment, a pilot can never be a good manager. There is huge difference between flight and management. There is a reason why big airlines are not run by pilots or its owners. Most if not all are run by management professionals. Pilots don't take risk. Managers do.

[Evodesire]

Mike Szucs is a pilot, but I think he had more managerial experience than being a pilot.

[Evodesire]

With the new PAL President a foreigner, will we see a shift of strategy? Will they be more less conservative and more aggressive? Will there be a massive plane order? Will Carmen continue to stick her nose into management decisions?

[ewh1]

Also, hes now VP of PAL Holdings Inc. and will still be part of the board. Even though hes not "managing the ship" he can focus on knowledge sharing within the board and provide objective criticism and insight to Richard; questioning or confirming future strategies that may be presented.

Richard will be able to use his management sense to better sell key decisions to the board - with his management experience, business acumen, etc and yes, to your point, have the confidence to take risks and leverage global relationships to solve the airlines problems.

Culturally speaking though, does having a foreigner at the helm also play a key role when it comes to playing with Filipino biases? A Filipino presents idea, is met with criticism. Suddenly a foreigner presents the same idea, he's hailed as a visionary? Don't know if thats the case here, but maybe part of tackling this culture issue? I don't know...

[Arianespace]

ewh1 wrote

Richard will be able to use his management sense to better sell key decisions to the board - with his management experience, business acumen, etc and yes, to your point, have the confidence to take risks and leverage global relationships to solve the airlines problems.

Culturally speaking though, does having a foreigner at the helm also play a key role when it comes to playing with Filipino biases? A Filipino presents idea, is met with criticism. Suddenly a foreigner presents the same idea, he's hailed as a visionary? Don't know if thats the case here, but maybe part of tackling this culture issue? I don't know...

You nailed it. He needs to sell key decisions to the Board. With dwindling returns there is no other way but for the airline to become aggressive. The competition for their most lucrative market, ie LAX and SFO, is here.

This financial year is not important. What is important is next 3 financial years which scared him, and Stan cannot be in that position. Unless he wants to be in a similar position with another son-in-law whose got the blame game for a company called Mabuhay. Notwithstanding his affiliation with the first family.

There must be another man who can get all the blame when the going gets tough. And easily fired. Its gonna be tough next year. You need a global wisdom to minimize that effect. You cannot also fire a son-in-law without encountering a family back-fire. I'll tell you, its not pleasant, and Stan remembered how it feels.

[filipinoavgeek]

https://business.inquirer.net/522136/biz-buzz-airasia-philippines-names-new-ceo

Speaking of new management, looks like it's not just PAL that's undergoing a leadership change. AirAsia PH is getting a new chief too, who this time is a Malaysian and, most importantly, is a pilot. Thoughts?

[Arianespace]

Flight deck has not been in his job description for a long time. In fact, Suresh Bangah quit that job in 2005. Unlike Stan who still holds the stick to update his qualifications as late as last year.

By the way, to put that appointment in perspective, Suresh Bangah is running the Bigger Airasia as COO. Isla is still there and running the show. The way I understand it, Suresh will introduce and run X in the Philippines. This forum is not shy to tell that Fernandes is salivating to put A330s here from the time when port magnate Mikee Romero runs his airline in 2018. It never happen. This will be Bangah marching order. Just watch.

P.S. Bangah is Fernandes yes man. Think about that too!

[filipinoavgeek]

I'm confused. Is his appointment supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing?

[romantic_guy08]

Arianespace wrote

Flight deck has not been in his job description for a long time. In fact, Suresh Bangah quit that job in 2005. Unlike Stan who still holds the stick to update his qualifications as late as last year.

By the way, to put that appointment in perspective, Suresh Bangah is running the Bigger Airasia as COO. Isla is still there and running the show. The way I understand it, Suresh will introduce and run X in the Philippines. This forum is not shy to tell that Fernandes is salivating to put A330s here from the time when port magnate Mikee Romero runs his airline in 2018. It never happen. This will be Bangah marching order. Just watch.

P.S. Bangah is Fernandes yes man. Think about that too!

do they intend to fly to the US with X?

[Arianespace]

filipinoavgeek wrote

I'm confused. Is his appointment supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing?

X died. It was resuscitated by AXM through Capital A Bhd in Malaysia's (MYX). So its operations failed. Thanks but no thanks to the pandemic. It folded up ending with AXM. Because its planes are easily filled than that of XAX.

It was a good business judgment that Romero never carried the X to the Philippines. He would have lost a much bigger fortune. For his reluctance to operate the X brand he was shown the door. Good for him. That is what CEO actually does. Decide something, and he did.

Now, the operation of APG is stable. But is contending with older fleet like PAL. That's not gonna last long. It is operating handout planes from AXM. It will be Suresh job to balance PI ops since he has bigger voice inside Capital A than Isla does. It surely is a good thing. He has two years to introduce the X in the Philippines.

For us passengers, that is a good thing. They already have routes lined-up. None of that however is North America.