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Veteran employee Philip Wei rises to the top at China Air

The board of directors of China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 華航), the nation's largest air carrier, yesterday voted to appoint president Philip Wei (魏幸雄) as chairman.

Wei was promoted to fill a vacancy left by Chiang Yao-chung (江耀宗), who has been named chairman of China Steel Corp (中鋼).

A handover ceremony was held immediately after the meeting. Wei, 63, has worked for China Airlines for 33 years.

He becomes the first CAL employee to rise through the ranks to take the top position in the company.

Wei vowed to develop more opportunities for cooperation with other airlines, including local competitors, to meet the growing challenges of high fuel prices and keen competition.

China Airlines in August trimmed down its forecast of pre-tax profits for the year from NT$3.89 billion (US$116 million) to NT$3.08 billion because of high crude oil prices eroding its profits.

The company has budgeted NT$13 billion more for fuel this year than it originally forecast, Wei said.

Even so, Wei said that the company has no plan to adjust this number.

However, "it's difficult for us to commit to achieving the figure," he added.

Yesterday's board meeting also appointed Ringo Chao (趙國帥) to succeed Wei as president. Chao, 49, was formerly the president of Mandarin Airlines (華信航空), a subsidiary of China Airlines.

He has also served as general manager of EVA Airways Corp's (長榮) branches in Europe, Thailand and San Francisco.
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