Tiger Airways(What do u think of this?)
This is from the Streats newspaper in Singapore.. Dated 22/04/04.
"It’s no frills for Tiger staff, too
SIA’s budget airline does away with medical benefits, meals, expat perks
By Chua Kong Ho
No medical benefits. No housing allowance for expatriates. No on-duty meals.
And you have to pay for the uniforms as well.
Welcome to Tiger Airways.
Singapore Airlines’ 49-per-cent-owned budget associate has pared down the sort of benefits and entitlements that most people have come to expect from working for airlines.
But Tiger also promises that there will be no seniority system, and that foreigners and locals will be employed on equal terms and assessed on merit.
Explaining its approach, beginning with its move not to pay for its pilots’ medical bills, Mr Patrick Gan, Tiger’s chief executive, told Streats: “Our pilots will be paid a salary, and will be given the freedom to manage their income as they see fit.”
The idea is to keep administration costs to a minimum.
There won’t be special allowances for expatriate pilots either. They’ll get the same pay for the same work, and won’t be given housing or education allowances.
All the pilots are signed to three-year renewable contracts, which means no automatic pay increases and hence, no seniority system.
Parent SIA foots its pilots’ medical bills. Even then, management has signalled it will push for a reduction in medical benefits by asking its staff to pay part of the costs of that visit to the doctor’s. Singaporean pilots are permanent employees of the company.
Expatriate pilot pay and benefits have been a sore point in management-pilot relations for a long time.
Valuair, Tiger’s cross-town rival that yesterday announced flights to Bangkok, Jakarta and Hong Kong from next month, has a health plan for its employees under which the staff pays part of the cost of their medical expenses.
There won’t be any meals provided for Tiger’s flight and cabin crew either.
Instead, there’s a fridge on the airplane where they can keep their meals and drinks.
Flight and cabin crew will also have to pay for their uniforms, through deductions made over three months from their salaries. This is to “encourage” crew members to take care of their uniforms, said the airline.
At SIA, female cabin crew are entitled to four new sets of the Pierre Balmain-designed sarong kebaya each year.
As for pay, Tiger’s captains can expect to earn between $14,000 and $16,000 a month inclusive of allowances, while first officers can earn between $9,000 and $11,000.
This is comparable to what SilkAir and SIA 777 pilots earn, sources say, but are not strictly so because of the absence of medical benefits at Tiger.
Over at Valuair, captains are paid $13,000 to $15,000 and first officers $8,000 to $9,000, executive director Jimmy Lau told Streats.
But Valuair’s expatriate pilots get a housing allowance.
Despite the lack of medical benefits, there’s a long queue of applicants for Tiger jobs, says Mr Gan.
“We certainly have had no shortage of applications from well-qualified and experienced pilots,” he said. “Ultimately, we’re looking for people with a passion for the business and who are committed to making our business model work.”
As for cabin crew, Tiger Airways also departs from convention by throwing out academic qualifications as a criterion, in stark contrast to SIA, which recently raised its minimum from O to A levels for cabin crew."