Ex-Virgin exec gets top job at Tiger
Matt O'Sullivan
September 12, 2011 - 11:41AM
Tiger Airways has named Andrew David, a former senior executive at Virgin Blue, as the new boss of its troubled Australian operations.
The appointment of an experienced airline executive signals that Tiger’s Singapore parent and its cornerstone shareholders, including Singapore Airlines, intend to maintain the Australian operations despite its recent forced grounding due to safety concerns.
Mr David, formerly the chief operating officer at Virgin, will begin on October 17, replacing Tony Davis as chief executive of Tiger’s Australian business. He had been seen as a potential replacement for Virgin’s co-founder, Brett Godfrey, but lost out to John Borghetti for the top job almost two years ago.
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Mr David left Australia’s second-largest airline last last year, joining an exodus of other senior managers who had worked under Mr Godfrey.
Before joining Virgin in 2005, Mr David had held a number of senior management roles at Air New Zealand, including chief information officer and head of strategy and planning.
Chin Yau Seng, the acting chief executive of Singapore-based Tiger Airways, said he was confident Mr David could take the Australian operations to ‘‘new heights’’.
‘‘He brings with him a wealth of experience in the airline business and a proven track record as a leader and manager,’’ he said in a release to the Singapore Stock Exchange today.
Mr Davis, who was previously the boss of Tiger’s Singapore parent, is the third chief executive of the Australian business to leave in 18 months. He will officially finish on November 1.
He departure was announced two week ago.
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Ex-Virgin exec gets top job at Tiger | Andrew David