Nicholas Ionides ATI/SINGAPORE
The changes took place in early July when CAL's new board met for the first time. They saw 68-year-old Lee Yun-ling become chairman of the airline to replace Chiang Hung-I, who remains a director, and Christine Tsung Tsai-yi become president, replacing Sandy Liu, who has been appointed chairman of CAL subsidiary Taiwan Aircargo Terminal.
Lee, a former CAL pilot and senior manager, is president and chairman of domestic carrier Far Eastern Air Transport, 10% of which is owned by CAL. His appointment is not a surprise because Chiang is said to have been planning to retire as chairman for some time, but Tsung's appointment was unexpected. She is new to the industry and Liu was seen as having carried out positive change since his appointment late in 1998.
Tsung, 52, was educated in Taiwan and the USA, and before returning to Taiwan was finance director for the City of Powey in San Diego, California. Most recently, she has been a government consultant for a mass transit railway project in the southern Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung.
Her predecessor, Liu, a CAL veteran of 30 years, was appointed acting president in November 1998 and was confirmed to the post five months later. He was credited for bringing in necessary change at the airline, which has been plagued by accidents and other incidents in recent years.
CAL is 71%-owned by China Aviation Development Foundation (CADF), which is controlled by the Taiwanese Government. CADF had its own board shaken up in June, when it appointed the new CAL board in a move that saw all but one of the members replaced. Taiwan's government has direct control over five of the nine seats on CADF's board and indirect control over a sixth, giving it almost total authority over the board.
The changes followed a switch in government in Taiwan. In March, national elections saw the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party's candidate defeated by Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party, who is close to the backers of Taiwan's second carrier, EVA Airways.
The KMT held power for 55 years and developed strong ties with many of Taiwan's businesses that the new administration has been trying to cut.
What remains unclear after the changes is the future of longstanding privatisation plans by CADF. Until earlier this year, the foundation was seeking to sell a 35.5% stake in the airline.
Efforts were suspended in March, partly because of uncertainty over political changes.
Source: Airline Business
