I-Singapore Airlines Ltd., umthwali wesibini ngobukhulu kwihlabathi ngexabiso lemarike, ithe ithathela ingqalelo abagqatswa “abaliqela” ukuba babe ligosa elilawulayo njengoko uChew Choon Seng ebonise ukuba uza kurhoxa.
"Kungenxa yenceba yebhodi, kodwa ndiyahamba iminyaka," utshilo uChew, oneminyaka engama-64 namhlanje, emva kwendibano yabaninizabelo eSingapore. "Kufuneka ndiqhubele phambili."
Izabelo zaseSingapore Airlines ziphindaphindeke kabini ukusukela oko uChew, ophelelwa yikontraka yakhe ngoDisemba, wathatha indawo yokuthwala ngo-2003 xa ingxaki ye-SARS yabetha uhambo lomoya e-Asia. Ukwazile ukuqhutywa kweengeniso zonyaka ngokungaqhawukiyo nanjengoko umthwali ebejongana namaxabiso erekhodi ye-jet-fuel, ukudodobala koqoqosho lwehlabathi kunye nokulibaziseka okuphindaphindiweyo ekuhanjisweni kwe-Airbus SAS A380 superjumbos.
“I-Chew inesandla esizinzile,” utshilo uRohan Suppiah, umhlalutyi weKim Eng Securities Pte eSingapore. "Ubuchule bakhe bokukhupha inqwelomoya kumaxesha anzima okusebenza buyamangalisa."
Inqwelo moya "ikwishedyuli" ukufumana umntu oza kungena ezihlangwini zeChew, utshilo uSihlalo uStephen Lee. Inkampani ijonge "abaninzi" abagqatswa, ngaphakathi nangaphandle kwenkampani, utshilo, ngaphandle kokuchaza.
Iinqwelo-moya ezingenanto
I-Chew yathatha indawo ye-Cheong Choong Kong ngoJuni ka-2003 xa intsholongwane ebulalayo yokuphefumla yakhupha iinqwelomoya. Ngaphantsi kwe-Chew, umphathiswa wathumela irekhodi le-S $ 2.13 yezigidigidi (i-1.6 yeebhiliyoni zeedola) ngonyaka ophele ngo-Matshi 2007. Ngo-Oktobha waloo nyaka, wazisa i-A380, eyenza i-Singapore Airlines ibe ngumthuthi wokuqala ukubhabha ijethi enkulu yabahambi emhlabeni.
Inzuzo ithe yaya kuthi ga kwi-S $ 216 yezigidi kulo nyaka uphelileyo - eyona imbi kakhulu kwiminyaka engaphezu kwamashumi amabini - njengoko ukudodobala koqoqosho lwehlabathi kulimaza ukuhamba. Izolo, inkampani yeenqwelomoya inike ingxelo yenzuzo yesithathu ethe tye yekota njengoko uqoqosho lwehlabathi luphinda luphinde lubekho luvuselela imfuno yokuhamba.
Umthwali unokuthumela inzuzo ye-S $ 1.3 yebhiliyoni kunyaka ophela ngo-Matshi, ngokomyinge we-23 uqikelelo lomhlalutyi oluqulunqwe yiBloomberg.
I-airline izuze ipesenti ze-1.8 ukuya kwi-S $ 15.02 namhlanje eSingapore, inzuzo enkulu ngaphezu kweeveki ezimbini. Izabelo ziye zanda ngeepesenti ze-0.5 kulo nyaka, zisilela emva kwe-benchmark ye-Straits Times Index ye-2.8 yeepesenti kwangaphambili.
Igqala leminyaka engaphezu kwamashumi amathathu kwinqwelomoya, uChew yinjineli yoomatshini eneSidanga seNzululwazi kwiKholeji yase-Imperial yaseLondon.
INTO ONOKUYITHATHA KWELI NQAKU:
- “It's at the mercy of the board, but I am getting on in years,” Chew, who turns 64 today, said after a shareholders meeting in Singapore.
- A veteran of more than three decades at the airline, Chew is a mechanical engineer with a Master's of Science degree from London's Imperial College.
- Singapore Airlines shares have doubled since Chew, whose contract expires in December, took over at the carrier in 2003 when the SARS crisis hammered air travel in Asia.
