New pilot in command
“I always believe in the power of collaboration and the support system. If all of us Filipinos will be proud of our airline and support it. Sad to say, sometimes, some of the people prefer the imported ones. “Now there’s a drive, and I can feel it. Let’s support the locals. If we do that, the airline can get so much better. PAL is now getting so much better, and we want to push for that. So the airline can go places and grow faster. Internally, we still have to do a lot of things.”
STANLEY Kua Ng wanted to become a pilot since he was a child.
“I was really interested to become a pilot,” Ng told The Manila Times. “However, the main challenge was I didn’t actually know anyone from the airline industry.”
Surprisingly, Ng found his way into the aviation industry by accident.
“I had a restaurant business with some of my friends before I graduated from college in 2002. By 2003, that was the time some of my friends applied to become cabin crew at Philippine Airlines (PAL).
“So they asked me to join them, and I ended up applying, too. The people at PAL saw on my resume that I can speak fluent Mandarin, Cantonese and Fookien.”
Apparently, that was Ng’s competitive advantage.
“So PAL told me, ‘Maybe you want to join us as a Chinese interpreter, then you can already fly international,’” he said. So Ng applied for a cabin crew position. “They asked me if I was interested [in] flying. But if you are a cabin crew, you have to spend and fulfill two years [there] because we are going to train you.
“I said no and rejected the offer. I said I was going to wait for my pilot school [training],” he narrated.
“After that, I was offered the job as Customer Relations at the airport. Multifunction. I did that for eight-nine months in 2003,” he recalled.
In 2004, Ng entered the PAL Learning Center, [it’s] not just a flying school. It had everything students needed to know.”
After a month attending various training subjects, they were taken to Clark for flight training.
“I studied in the actual flying school in 200V,” he said.
After 18 months, Ng earned his wings and joined the pilot pool.
The first flight he was assigned to was Los Angeles, not as a pilot but as a navigator.
“For long-haul flights, [there] are always four in the cockpit. The two of us were staying at the back. If the captain was going to rest, that was the time we moved to the pilot seat. We were flying already, but still not the take-off and landing. The experience and training was really important,” Ng recalled.
“Proper understanding of how to fly an aircraft, that’s important,” according to Ng.
After that, I went to fly domestic [for] more than two years. Every day, I flew four legs in a day. Manila-Cebu, Cebu-Manila then Manila-Cebu, Cebu-Manila again. That was where you really hone your skills as a pilot. I gained a lot of experience.”
Ng flew to all over Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao — zamboanga, Davao, Butuan, Cotabato, Boracay, everywhere. He did Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao and a little bit of international, too.
“I flew Japan — Osaka, Nagoya — Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong. Medium haul like eight to ten hours. Middle East, Hawaii, Australia — direct to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and just added last year was Perth. That was my last flight in 2023, Manila to Perth, direct. I was on the inaugural flight.
“We started Cebu-Baguio also last year, building new connections, creating accessibility and starting something different. That can change everything. We started with the frequency of four times a week,” he said.
Ng assumed his new positions at PAL as president and chief operating officer in January 2022.
“I really never asked for this,” he explained. “I didn’t bid for my positions nor asked for it,” he said. “At that time, the company needed someone, and I was the Head of Operations for PAL from 2019 to 2022.
“They initially put me as OIC (officer in charge). They were saying only six months at that time. Most of the people know me, who I really am. This is it. I’m genuine and sincere with everybody. They know my work ethics and my integrity.
“A lot of people were saddened by the news to know that my appointment was only for six months. Without someone competent and good, nobody knew the future of PAL again. They would be looking for another professional to manage PAL again.”
However, the company and the employees welcomed Ng eventually as president.
“They were happy about my appointment,” he said. “They decided not to search anymore. Even external stakeholders were happy about it. I was told to just continue what I was doing. They decided not to search anymore.”
When he was given a chance to become at the helm of PAL, Ng was initially hesitant.
“The first thing inside my mind was not just to only help the airline. My call for patriotism is always higher. It was always there behind my mind. I realized that I can do so much for the county, not just for the company. That was my fulfillment.
“To this date, about two years later, I can somehow proudly say, if you ask Tourism, the LGUs (local government units), ask