Rupert Hogg has been named the new chief executive of Hong Kong’s Cathay pacific as part of sweeping management changes at the airline in the wake of its first loss in eight years.
He replaces Ivan Chu, who steps down from the CEO role after three years to become chairman of John Swire & Sons (China) from May 1. Chu will also step down as chairman of Hong Dragon Airlines but will remain on the Cathay and Swire Pacific boards as a non-executive director.
Hogg moves into the role as Cathay is reeling from increased competition from low-cost and Chinese carriers as well as a bad call on fuel hedging.
Cathay Pacific’s profit nosedived last year by almost 110 per cent to a net loss of $HK575m ($US74m) amid warnings from the Hong Kong group that it expected the environment this year to remain challenging.
It blamed the worse than expected result on “intense and increased” competition combined with economic factors such as the strength of the Hong Kong Dollar and reduced economic growth in mainland China.
He faces the task of completing a restructuring started by his predecessor aimed at making the carrier more responsive to an increasingly competitive environment.
Cathay chairman John Slosar said Hogg, who also becomes the chairman of Cathay Dragon, brought an impressive level of aviation and business experience to the job.
“He has played a major role as Chief Operating Officer over the last three years and brings commercial focus and a spirit of innovation to our efforts to overcome the well-documented structural challenges facing the airline,’’ he said. “He is the right man to lead our team.”
Other changes will see Cathay’s director corporate development and IT, Paul Loo, take on the position of chief customer and commercial officer from June 1 and Greg Hughes, now an executive at Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company, become the airline’s chief operations and service delivery officer.
Cathay Dragon chief executive Algernon Yau, will take on the role Cathay director of service delivery appointed will remaining at his current job.
Slosar, who also chairs Swire Pacific, said he looked forward to working with Chu in his new role in the Swire group’s mainland China strategy and paid tribute to his efforts at Cathay.
"Ivan played a key role in the airline's management during some very good times and, more recently, some difficult and challenging times,’’ he said. “ In response, he led the team in devising the three-year transformation strategy which will provide the platform for Cathay's medium-term recovery and continued development.’’
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