What does it take to lead an airline? If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to be a CEO or president of an airline, chances are you’ve done your research into the career paths of current carrier heads.
According to a 2019 paper published by Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 72% of airline CEOs and presidents are insiders. So, loyalty does pay.
Take the case of Mitsuko Tottori, the current President of Japan Airlines (JAL). Tottori began her career with JAL as a flight attendant in 1985, working her way up to become the airline’s first female president in 2024, almost 40 years later.
Four decades is a long time, but fortunately not the standard. Air France CEO Anne Rigail began her journey with the carrier in 1996 working in customer service at Paris-Orly Airport (ORY). In 2017, she was appointed Executive Vice President for Customer Service and became the French flag carrier’s CEO in 2018.
Then there’s Xander Lao, who joined Cebu Pacific as Director for Revenue Management and Pricing in 2007. 16 years later, he was appointed President and Chief Commercial Officer of the Philippine low-cost carrier.
AeroTime recently caught up with Lao at Cebu Pacific’s headquarters in Manila for an Executive Spotlight feature. AeroTime was also able to take a deep dive into Lao’s professional journey in the aviation industry – how he started, what he believes makes a great leader in the industry, and where his true passions lie.
Choosing your course: does it really matter?
There are plenty of CEOs and founders who prove that the school of life can take you far. Virgin Group’s Richard Branson famously dropped out of high school at the age of 15. Mark Zuckerburg left Harvard University after his sophomore year to focus on creating Facebook.
However, unless you are a founder, you will likely need at least a college degree if you want to become a CEO or a president of a company.
According to research conducted in July 2024 by language learning platform Preply, 34.6% of CEOs have a master’s or doctorate degree and 22.3% of CEOs have an MBA (Master of Business Administration).
In 2019 Forbes conducted a study into the undergraduate degrees of Fortune100 CEOs and found that 53% held Bachelor of Arts (BA) / Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degrees, while 47% received a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree. However, 45% of those with a Bachelor of Science majored in a business field such as accounting or finance.
Lao graduated with a B.S Legal Management degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, and obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration, Major in Finance, from the Asian Institute of Management.
When it comes to high level aviation management, Lao believes that for specialized roles like engineers or pilots, specific courses do matter. But when it comes to leading a company or an airline, Lao, who came from a financial services company prior to CEB, believes that, “at the end of the day, the business objectives are the same: you try to increase unit revenues and try to decrease unit costs.”
“In general, [an undergraduate course in] Management can take you in any industry and you can succeed,” Lao said when asked if he considers his degrees to be a good combination for being an airline President and CCO.
“Strange as it sounds, I wasn’t thinking about the aviation industry when I was studying,” he continued. “From my perspective, I guess it was more beneficial to take up general management or a business course, and it helped me along the way.”
He added: “I’m of the belief that your course can give you some advantages, but it does not necessarily determine the rest of your career.”
While a course or degree can play a factor, Lao said that what’s necessary at times in certain roles are good business sense, empathy to some extent, and mastering oneself.
“I don’t think the course itself will determine your success,” he explained. “You could have bad grades in university, or not even graduate, but still be super successful, and there are many examples of that.
“In the aviation sector, you don’t necessarily have to be in a specific course to succeed, unless you want to be in a specialized area.”
Working in an airline: not easy, but fulfilling
As he approaches his 18th year with the airline, Lao said that Cebu Pacific’s mission and environment play a factor in keeping him in the company all these years.
“I must say, working in an airline is not easy. There are challenges and so many things that are not necessarily within your control. But it’s great to be working in an environment that’s quite open and challenging,” Lao said, crediting his team and colleagues.
Compared to most of its counterparts, Cebu Pacific has a more modern working environment, where equality is emphasized to encourage open dialogue and communication. Everyone, including C-Suite Executives, are addressed by first names, a refreshing working culture in a country that has a penchant for titles, seniority, and social hierarchy.
This equality and transparency can also be seen at the airline’s headquarters in Manila. Meetings are ordinarily held in open spaces rather than closed rooms. Lance Gokongwei, JG Summit (CEB’s holding company) President and son of CEB founder John Gokongwei, Jr, has a cubicle (not a closed office) that is easily seen and accessible.
“I started in 2007, but time flies by so fast because we’re having so much fun,” Lao said. “It’s not an easy job but it’s quite a fulfilling one.”
Combining passion and purpose: “I want to see things grow.”
Good news – passion is not overrated. A 2023 study conducted by the Business Research Unit of University of Lisbon found that passion for one’s job is a fundamental factor in employees’ daily motivation to work well. A well-balanced degree of passion proved to be successful in preventing negative affective states related to work from developing.
Ideally, passion for a job should be aligned with one’s purpose and values. This seems to be the case for Lao, whose first and so far, only, airline experience is Cebu Pacific.
Although Lao’s passion does not necessarily lie in management, finance, or aviation, he is driven by the pursuit of growth, something he said he discovered when forging his own path.
Lao shared that his mother wanted him to be a lawyer and his father, who was a banker, naturally wanted him to work in a bank.
“I didn’t want either, so I stuck to the middle and said, ‘If anything, I want to see things grow’.”
He also said that working in an airline allows a lot of opportunity for growth.
“It’s really about growth, whether it’s seeing the business or people grow, or the destinations that we serve,” Lao added.
One destination that stands out for Lao is Siargao, an island of nine municipalities in Surigao del Norte, close to 800 kilometers southeast of Manila. Lao recalled that when CEB began flying into Siargao’s Sayak Airport (IAO) circa 2009-2011, it was a twice-weekly service from Cebu Mactan International Airport (CEB), and the service was met with doubt when it first launched.
“There was really nothing there,” Lao said, recalling that the airport then was just a small shed with a weighing scale.
Now, Siargao is known as the surfing capital of the Philippines, receiving more than 500,000 visitors in 2023, an astounding 323.56% growth from the previous year. There are currently nine daily CEB flights to Siargao from major capital cities in the Philippines.
Lao shared that he also finds fulfillment in seeing people in the company grow.
“I’ve seen some of my teammates who I’ve worked with in the last 10 years. They started out as fresh graduates and they’re now independent or married with children yet have a pretty good career.”
Lao added: “Seeing growth in the business and seeing the growth that the business brings to the communities that we serve, and the growth of people in the company is quite fulfilling, and that’s something I’m passionate about.”
