Looks like Tiger is about to become BMI Asia!
Tiger Airways MD said to have resigned
Ven Sreenivasan
November 10, 2010
Business Times Singapore
(c) 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
(SINGAPORE) Tiger Airways Singapore would neither confirm nor deny talk yesterday that its managing director Rosalynn Tay had quit.
Sources close to the company told The Business Times that Ms Tay had tendered her resignation. But Tiger Holdings chief executive Tony Davis said she was still at her post. 'She's still the MD,' he said. 'If there is something to comment on, we will announce it.'
Asked again specifically if she had resigned, Mr Davis would only repeat 'She's still the MD.'
There have been recent management changes at Tiger. Several people have been hired from Britain's BMI group, where Mr Davis came from. Some have been elevated to senior posts.
Dave Perring was promoted to commercial director not long ago. And operations director Daniel Wong is said to be making way for two incoming managers.
Meanwhile, Mike Coltman, Tiger's former operations director from Australia, has moved north to oversee the establishment of Tiger's Thai unit with Thai Airways.
And former pilot Christopher Ward has been lured back to Tiger to head a partnership with Philippines- based SeaAir.
'Many of the local staff, especially at management level, are upset,' said a source.
BT understands that unhappiness boiled over several months ago when Tiger suffered an exodus of pilots following a wage dispute. This affected services, forcing Tiger to cancel up to a third of its flights during some weeks in September and October.
The airline insisted it had enough pilots to meet its needs and said it had recruited new pilots from regional carriers.
But passengers complained bitterly about cancelled flights. 'There was a lot of finger-pointing during that time,' a source said.
Tiger's arch-rival AirAsia started taking potshots at the Singapore Airlines associate, with its outspoken CEO Tony Fernandes calling the Tiger team a 'bunch of white guys' who didn't understand the Asian budget carrier market.
Some within the company say Mr Davis is purely bottomline-focused and cost-driven. 'He is the emperor here and he makes all the key decisions,' said a source. 'But the frustration is growing.'
Ms Tay joined Tiger five years ago as its head of marketing and was promoted to managing director of Tiger Singapore after the budget carrier set up an Australian sister airline almost two years ago.