The latest, filtering from the fourth floor, is that SIA Cargo has received five hundred applications from assorted misguided wannabees throughout the world (do these guys never read pprune?) and of this bunch, fourty or so were deemed, by the powers, to be reasonably in the frame for consideration as B744 drivers. Snag was, of course, when they were sim checked as part of the recruitment procedure, none of them passed!
But then is this surprising when considering the derisory package on offer and thus the quality of applicants? The metaphor concerning primates and peanuts springs to mind!
Seems, hence, like the idea of a stand-alone SIA Cargo has been shelved for the moment, pending the introduction of the A380 in 2006 and the inevitable rapid demise of the passenger version of the B744 within SIA, when marooned ex-pats will then be offered the stark choice – “accept the garbage that's on offer, or push off.”
It would obviously not be logical to improve the package and thus attract applicants of the required calibre and experience.