Singapore Airlines - Corporate Management

Corporate Management

The airline is a subsidiary of Singapore government investment and holding company Temasek Holdings which holds 54.5% of voting stock. The Singapore government, which holds a golden share via the Ministry of Finance, has regularly stressed its non-involvement in the management of the company, a point emphasised by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew when he declared that the aviation hub status of Singapore Changi Airport will be defended, even at the cost of SIA. However, he was personally involved in defusing tensions between the company and its pilots, warned the airline to cut costs, and made public his advice to the airline to divest from its subsidiary companies. Still, independent research typically rates the airline as practising sound corporate governance policies in accordance with national regulations. In the lead up to the conclusion of the Open Skies Agreement with the United Kingdom on 2 October 2007, the Singapore aviation authorities referred to the airline's audited annual reports to dispel the notion that SIA receives state funding, subsidies or preferential treatment from the government, despite being a Government-linked company. Singapore Airlines is headquartered at Airline House, by Changi Airport in the Changi area of Singapore. Marie Bordet of Le Point said that the head office was "un tantinet décrépit" ("a little decrepit").