| Goh Choon Phong | |
| Birth Date: | July 1963 |
| Birth Place: | State of Singapore (now Republic of Singapore) |
| Nationality: | Singaporean |
| Alma Mater: | Hwa Chong Junior College Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Occupation: | CEO of Singapore Airlines CEO of Singapore Airlines Cargo Chairman of Budget Aviation Holdings |
Goh Choon Phong is a Singaporean businessman who is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Singapore Airlines and Singapore Airlines Cargo. He was formally appointed to be the CEO on 1 January 2011 in an announcement dated 3 September 2010.[1] Prior to his appointment, he worked for the SIA group for more than 20 years for the airlines' operations in China and Scandinavia.[2]
Goh was born in July 1963 in Singapore.[3] He graduated from Hwa Chong Junior College, and is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, majoring in computer science, management science and cognitive science.[4] He also holds Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.[5]
Goh joined Singapore Airlines after finishing his Masters degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a cadet administrative officer, fulfilling the sponsorship Singapore Airlines offered to him to pursue his studies at MIT.
Subsequently, Goh rose up the ranks, taking on appointments such as Senior Vice President of Commercial Technology, Senior Vice President of Information Technology, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Chairman of SilkAir, a former subsidiary of Singapore Airlines which has since merged with Singapore Airlines. He was appointed as CEO of Singapore Airlines on 1 January 2011, replacing outgoing CEO Chew Choon Seng who was retiring.[6] [7]
As CEO, Goh led the airline group in its expansion phase post 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis and the subsequent recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic, which brought the aviation industry to a halt in the early 2020s. Notably, the group recovered strongly post-pandemic, and achieved a record annual profit of S$2.68 billion in fiscal year 2023-2024.[8] [9] Also under his leadership, he headed the consolidation of Singapore Airlines Group's business, merging its two wholly-owned budget carriers Tigerair and Scoot into a single entity Scoot, and the merger of SilkAir, a wholly-owned full service carrier subsidiary, into the main carrier Singapore Airlines.[10] [11] [12] [13] He also oversaw Singapore Airline's joint venture with Tata Group to form a new Indian full service carrier, Vistara, and the subsequent merger of Vistara with Air India, in which Singapore Airlines obtained a 25.1% stake in the newly rebranded airline.[14] [15]
Goh also looked after Singapore Airlines' response to the SQ321 incident, where severe turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin hit the Singapore Airlines B777-300ER plane enroute from London Heathrow Airport to Singapore Changi Airport, resulting in a fatality and leaving many severely injured.[16] [17]
In recognition of his efforts, Goh was awarded with accolades such as the 2015 Centre for Aviation’s Asia-Pacific Airline CEO of the Year award, 2016 Eisenhower Global Innovation Award from the Business Council for International Understanding, 2017 Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in the Business Time's Singapore Business Awards, 2019 Singapore Corporate Award's Best Chief Executive Officer for companies with $1 billion or more in market capitalization, and Tatler's Asia Most Influential 2022 & 2023.[18] [19] [20] [21] [22] Most recently in 2024, Goh was awarded the 2024 Excellence in Leadership Award at the Air Transport World (ATW) magazine’s annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards.[23] [24]
Goh is currently also a member of the National University of Singapore's Board of Trustees, and an independent director of Mastercard.[25] [26]