China Airlines has promoted its president Kao Shing-Hwang as its new chairman, after the death of its previous chair.
Taking over from Kao as the airline’s new president is Chen Han-ming, who was chairman of China Airlines’ low-cost unit Tigerair Taiwan.
Both Kao and Chen assumed their post on 10 March, following a board meeting. The leadership change follows the death of former chair Hsieh Su-Chien in January.
Kao is an airline veteran of nearly 40 years, having joined in 1986 as a cabin attendant, before becoming a cadet pilot with the airline. He took helm of the airline in 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic, with a focus on “optimisation of overall operations, and enhancing competitiveness”.
Kao was appointed acting chair in January this year after the Hsieh’s death.
As for Chen, he joined China Airlines’ board in 2016 and “is fully conversant with the group’s operations and airline governance”, says the carrier. He was appointed Tigerair Taiwan chair in 2020, and is credited with helping the low-cost carrier “become a successful brand that delivered outstanding results in 2023 and 2024”.
