The board of directors of Philippine Airlines on Monday appointed US-based executive Gilbert Santa Maria as the new president and chief operating officer who will focus on bringing the flag carrier to profitability.
Santa Maria will replace Jaime Bautista who retired on June 30 and will work alongside PAL chairman and chief executive Dr. Lucio Tan and executive vice president Vivienne Tan.
The 15-man PAL board, in its regular meeting at the Century Park Hotel-Manila, unanimously approved Santa Maria, a handpicked nominee of Tan.
“I call on all PAL executives and staff to support Gilbert Santa Maria. Let’s work together and help him face PAL’s many challenges,” Tan said.
Santa Maria, an electrical engineer from Mindanao who went on to become a top business process outsourcing executive in the Philippines and the US, said it was a privilege to serve the country’s flag carrier while urging his fellow PAL workers to help him achieve Dr. Tan’s vision of making PAL the airline of choice across all the markets it serves.
“PAL is the airline that meets the needs of local and global travelers by showcasing our brand’s main strength”•the passion for safety and service. Maintaining the current level of service is important and of course, profitability. Let us do our share to make PAL reach greater heights. I will be with you every step of the way,” he said.
“It is important for my father’s vision to be translated into PAL providing consistent quality service to our customers and also, the flag carrier serving as a means to contribute to nation-building. With this new leadership, we will accomplish this further,” said Vivienne Tan who also serves as the chief administrative officer.
Skytrax in June listed PAL as the top 30 airline in the world, rising 19 spots from top 49 in 2018, and a full 60 spots from top 90 in 2013.
Santa Maria, who has BS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Philippines in Diliman and a Master’s in Public and Private Management from the Yale University School of Management, has three decades of executive management and leadership experience gained across multiple industries in companies around the world.
Santa Maria is leaving his Los Angeles-based advisory firm to join PAL in Manila. He was a key leader and contributor in the Philippines’ highly successful BPO industry. Until early 2018, he was COO of Washington, DC-based BPO company Ibex Global and was responsible for its 18,000 employees around the World. Before IBEX, he was COO and CFO of IQ BackOffice, a California-based finance and accounting outsourcer that was an investee company of LiveIt Investments, Ayala Corp’s BPO holding company.
He was also one of the youngest general managers of Pepsi Cola Products Philippines’ Manila operations. He started his career as a management trainee in production and engineering at Unilever in Manila.