China Airlines insider appointed president

April 1st 2021

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Starting at China Airlines (CAL) as a straight out of university flight attendant in 1986 and progressing through the ranks as a CAL pilot and senior manager, the flag carrier’s new boss, Shing-Hwang Kao, can rightly claim to know the company inside out. Read More »

Appointed in March, Kao is a CAL lifer with a deep knowledge of the airline, from both an operations perspective and the experience of dealing with the challenges of management, most latterly the pandemic.

Kao moved from the passenger cabin to the cockpit after he was among the first batch of CAL students to be sent to the U.S. for flight training. He began his flying years with the A300 family and progressed to the 747-400 and the left hand seat before being promoted to CAL’s management ranks in 2003. He also flew A340s and A330s. His leadership roles have included chief pilot, vice president of flight operations and responsibility for the departments of finance, safety, corporate sustainability and cabin crew operations. Most recently, he was a CAL senior vice president.

Kao’s appointment will ease the workload of CAL chairman, Su-Chien Hsieh, who also has been serving as acting president for two years. Hsieh led CAL from June 2016. In April 2019, he was chosen as CAL board chair but retained his responsibilities, as acting president, until Kao was appointed in mid-March. CAL said Hsieh will now concentrate full-time on chairing the carrier’s board.

One of Kao’s first public appearances as president was a sentimental occasion. He was among management, crew dressed in uniforms from different eras of 747 flying, retired employees and valued frequent flyers to farewell the last 747-400 to depart the CAL fleet.

At the ceremony, on April 12, the former 747 captain said the aircraft “was a very safe and stable aircraft to fly” and thanked the “Queen of the Skies’ for “its extraordinary contribution to the development of Taiwan and China Airlines”.