Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.’s board is planning to meet Wednesday to vote on appointing long-time manager Ronald Lam as the airline’s new chief executive officer, according to people familiar with the matter.

Lam, Cathay’s chief customer and commercial officer, is set to succeed current CEO Augustus Tang, the people said, asking not to be identified because the subject is private. The leadership shift is backed by the airline’s biggest shareholder, business group Swire Pacific Ltd., and second-largest Air China Ltd. has expressed its support, according to the people. 

Ronald Lam, new chief executive officer

Tang moved into the top job when previous chief Rupert Hogg stepped down in 2019, after the airline became entangled in Hong Kong’s anti-China protests. Tang, 63, went on to steer Cathay through one of its most challenging periods amid the Covid pandemic. 

A representative for Cathay declined to comment, while Swire didn’t respond to multiple messages. Air China didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.

Lam, 50, has worked at Cathay for 26 years. Should he be ratified as the new CEO, he’ll be tasked with leading the airline through its post-pandemic recovery, with ongoing travel restrictions into and out of Hong Kong. 

Under Tang, Cathay went through a HK$39 billion ($5 billion) government-led recapitalization, cut jobs and closed its regional airline Cathay Dragon. 

While Cathay’s situation has started to improve as Hong Kong dismantles much of its Covid border regime, the city still requires tests on arrival and limits what travelers can do. The airline also counted mainland China as it’s biggest market pre-pandemic, a key vulnerability as Beijing persists with its zero-tolerance approach to the virus. 

Passenger traffic is still only 16% of pre-Covid levels and Cathay has said it won’t return to 100% until late 2024 or early 2025.

On Lam’s immediate to-do list will be rebuilding Cathay’s volume of flights. Singapore Airlines Ltd. has already pushed far further into its recovery after the city-state where it is based dropped travel restrictions early this year. Its capacity is back to about 73% of 2019 levels, according to Bloomberg calculations, similar to major European carriers like Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

Lam said in September that Cathay’s recovery would take time as it returns aircraft to service and trains staff. The airline’s workforce has shrunk by about 40% since the start of the pandemic, limiting its ability to quickly add flights, and eventually repay the money it owes the Hong Kong government from the recapitalization. 

After studying computer science at Cambridge University, Lam joined Salomon Brothers in Hong Kong in 1994 before joining Cathay as a management trainee in 1996. He is set to be Cathay’s youngest CEO in 18 years. Tang will step down having been Cathay’s longest-serving chief executive since Tony Tyler in 2007-2011.