Sunstar: SIA took a very handsoff approach to Tiger. Chew Choon Seng, the previous SIA CEO from 2003 to 2010, didn't really care much about his airline. He only aimed to give his shareholders a S$1 dividend per year at least, which based on a share price of S$11 to S$16, is anywhere from 5 to 8%. Which is almost unheard of for any airline.
Under Chew Choon Seng's watch, SIA withdrew from many destinations, including Chicago, Las Vegas, Brussels, Darwin, Cairns, TPE-LAX, ICN-YVR among others. So long as he met his target of being able to give a S$1 dividend, he didn't care much for anything else.
SIA"s marketshare in SIN shrank from 50% to 35% during his term.
He also took a completely handsoff approach with Tiger. With an initial capital injection of $20 million, Tiger was worth about $800 million SGD at its max share price of $1.80. (It listed at $1.50 I think). Today it is 67 cents. As a financial investment, it paid off handsomely in 2010.
And I kid you not, SIA found out about Tiger's grounding from the evening news that Saturday evening.
So Now they have sent an EVP to go and manage it, and are wasting a lot of management time trying to clear up the mess Tony Davis and his team did.
Tony Davis scoots off (OH PUN!) to Europe with $12 million made from his IPO. Nice for him.