(Reuters) – Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd’s board is planning to meet on Wednesday and vote on appointing insider Ronald Lam as its new chief executive officer, Bloomberg News said in a report on Tuesday.
Lam, who has been Cathay Pacific’s chief customer and commercial officer since 2019, will replace current CEO Augustus Tang, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Cathay’s two biggest shareholders, Swire Pacific Ltd and Air China, have expressed their support for the move.
Tang, 63, took the top job at Cathay in 2019, following the sudden exit of former CEO Rupert Hogg amid mounting Chinese scrutiny over the involvement of some of its staff in anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific declined to comment on the Bloomberg report, while Swire Pacific and Air China did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
In October, a pilots union said Cathay Pacific faced unprecedented staffing and training shortages that will keep airfares high and impede Hong Kong’s return to its role of global aviation hub.
(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
