Lawrence started his aviation career as a Flight Engineer with Singapore Airlines (SIA) in 1973 operating and instructing on the B707, B727, B747, A300 and DC-10 aircraft.

When the fleets were renewed to models with flight engineer’s function automated from 1988, Lawrence opted to support operations from the ground by managing flight controls, dispatch and crew scheduling to make good use of his inflight experiences. In 2001 he integrated all Flight Operations, Cabin crew, Engineering and Ground Services operational controls under one Integrated Operations Control Centre where it had since become the nerve centre for all regular flights, diversions and inflight emergencies for the SIA group of airlines (Group).  

Lawrence was part of the crisis team that responded to Silkair MI 185’s (a subsidiary of SIA) crash at Palembang in 1997 and SIA’s SQ 006 crash at Taipei in 2000. He assumed the SIA Group’s crisis leadership in 2001 and progressively elevated the Group’s crisis readiness through network-wide annual refresher training and exercises and training of close to a thousand CareGivers. During this period, he has also served as Chair of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) Emergency Response Working Group, Chair of Star Alliance Emergency Response Working Group and Asia Representative for IATA Emergency Response Task Force.

Following his retirement from SIA in 2016, Lawrence joined the Emergency Preparedness team at the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and developed their Crisis Hotline and Care Giving functions. He was involved in CAAS’ response to a fire at one of Changi Airport’s terminals, the crash of a flying display aircraft during Singapore Airshow 2018, intrusion of drones at Changi Airport and COVID-19 border health controls for the aviation sector.

Lawrence holds a Master in Business Administration and is currently an Adjunct Lecturer conducting airport management and crisis programmes at the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA). He has conducted crisis management and care training at the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China and spoken at various AAPA’s Emergency Response Conferences and Changi Airport Group’s Emergency Response Seminars. On COVID-19, Lawrence covered the responses by Airlines and Airports at the joint SAA-Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Asia’s Webinars and an SAA-Civil Aviation University of China’s Webinar.