Captain Stanley Ng is the youngest president of Philippine Airlines and the first pilot to hold the position since the 1960s. He shares with MEGA Man his thoughts on being a “data-informed” decision-maker, how teaching shaped his leadership style, and how basketball formed his indomitable spirit
This is an excerpt from MEGA Man’s November 2022 cover story.
Captain Stanley Ng loves flying. It’s not just the thrill of coursing through a seemingly endless sky, or swaying across unpredictable weather, that enlivens his otherwise unruffled composure.
It’s everything about navigating thousands of pounds of metal above the ground: the mechanics, meteorology, aerodynamics, building trust among people, dealing with rain. All of it.
Without the poetry behind the profession, though, he has always thought that being a pilot was just, “cool.” In his younger years, he’d see pilots at airports getting the utmost respect from everyone, and he knew pilots live their lives seeing the most beautiful places all over the world.
Besides, he has always had it in him—even his friends think so. They found out about his skills while they were playing video games in high school.
“I’ve always wanted to become a pilot,” he tells MEGA Man. “However, I didn’t know anyone in aviation, anyone who could guide me. I didn’t think it was possible. But when I played video games with my friends, they would recognize my hand-eye coordination, and I would always win at those games. They actually encouraged me to try to become a pilot. But I forgot about it already.” It also didn’t help that his parents were “quite traditional,” and believed that having a business was the right path for him.
Following their wishes—at first—in 2002, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Major in Computer Applications degree from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in Manila. In fact, during his college years, he and a friend opened a small restaurant in Taft, Manila, an experience which Ng says was “good, but we didn’t really take it seriously.”
“I believed I’d just be happier doing what I wanted to do,” he recalls that moment when he decided he wanted to do away with traditions and glide by his own course. After serving as customer relations assistant for Philippine Airlines (PAL) for around one year, Ng enrolled at the Philippine Airlines Aviation School.
“That’s the plan for the rest of my life. I want to enjoy what I love doing.”
Read more about Captain Stanley Ng and his story as he soars higher in MEGA Man’s November 2022 issue, now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio.
Photography JERICK SANCHEZ
Art Direction NICOLE ALMERO
Grooming Direction MIA CASTRO
Fashion Direction RYUJI SHIOMITSU
Styling GEE JOCSON, assisted by MICHAEL LESOY, JENNAH CORPUZ, IAN REY, AND MARKO JEFFERSON MOYA
Grooming ARJAY ZURITA
Videography EXCEL PANLAQUE
Video Production REGINA ACERON
Shot on Location at PAL EXPRESS
Shoot Coordination KZ FRANCISCO and MJ ALMERO
