Former Sacombank deputy CEO named Bamboo Airways chairman

Vietnamese private carrier Bamboo Airways on Monday appointed Phan Dinh Tue, former Sacombank deputy CEO, as its chairman for the 2023-2025 term, replacing Le Thai Sam.

Tue joined the airline in June 2023 as a board member and then standing vice chairman.

He has 40 years working in the finance and banking sector and was a deputy CEO of Ho Chi Minh City-based private lender Sacombank from 2012 to June 2013. Currently, he is still a board member at the bank.

Bamboo Airways said the appointment is to meet the necessary conditions for development goals in the new period, as well as accelerate the airline's restructuring process.

According to the carrier, in the past time, Tue had directly engaged in operating Bamboo Airways and contributed to helping it achieve a number of important goals in the restructuring roadmap, with many positive changes recorded in its business model, fleet and personnel restructuring, and financial capacity.

Currently, Bamboo Airways’s board of directors consists of five members, namely chairman Phan Dinh Tue, vice chairmen Le Thai Sam and Le Ba Nguyen, and members Nguyen Ngoc Trong and Le Thi Truc Quynh.

Bamboo Airways aims to break even in 2025 and gradually increase operating efficiency in the following years. In the 2026-2028 period, the carrier plans to expand its domestic and international flight networks with 30-50 aircraft.

The carrier last month appointed former executive of Pacific Airlines and Air Mekong Luong Hoai Nam as its new CEO, the third in five months.

The airline has been going through major leadership changes ever since its chairman Trinh Van Quyet was arrested in March 2022 for stock market manipulation and fraud.

Bamboo Airways was established by private conglomerate FLC in late May 2017 with an initial charter capital of VND700 billion ($29.6 million). It launched its first commercial flights in January 2019.

In the first nine months of 2023, the airline reported 2,470 delayed flights, accounting for 7.6% of its total, maintaining its position as the country's most punctual airline during the period. It also stood out with a low cancelation rate, only 0.2% of the total.

Late last year, Bamboo Airways suspended a series of domestic and international routes in an effort to stay afloat amid major restructuring.