I was clearing my emails and came across an email some sent me regarding the SQ cabin crew meal allowances for 2005:
(In S$, in order of Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)
Australia /
New Zealand
43
76
97
Orient
36
79
96
Europe
63
102
128
Middle East
34
60
76
USA / Canada
32
65
85
South East Asia
20
36
45
South Asia
25
45
58
South Africa
30
56
73
Japan
61
96
125
Just remember that this was from 2005. It probably has gone up, since we're nearly 5 years down the road.
From what I remember from a newspaper article, in addition to their basic salary, SQ cabin crew get in addition to the above:
1) An overnight allowance
2) $8 an hour for the first 8 hours of flying and $12 after that, for each sector. Flying duty for the sector commences from when the cabin crew arrives at Changi Airport and ends when they leave the overseas airport upon arrival. For turnaround flights, it starts when they enter Changi Airport and ends when they leave Changi Airport
3)Their basic salary (which is around S$1500 a month for entry level staff, I think inflight supervisors are on $6k ro $7k fixed ++ usually multiplied by anywhere from 13 to 18 months of salary a year depending on thecompany performance. For the last FY it was multiplied by 17 months while for this FY it will probably me multipled by 14 months if even, since SQ is unlikely to break even.)
As such, SQ cabin crew are basically casual staff with a very low fixed salary and a very high variable salary. Looking at their allowances, they are by no means underpaid even compared to their Western counterparts.
A SIN-FRA-JFK return leg could net them nearly S$2000 in allowances and duty pay.
If Tiger and Jetstar Asia are paying that much lower than SQ (I don't know how much they pay), then obviously they would be getting staff of a completely different league. You pay peanuts, you get donkeys.
I know Tiger has gotten interns from Singaporean polytechnics to "intern" as cabin crew, and paid them an intern "allowance" (probably a few hundred dollars a month). It wouldn't surprise me if they try to get away with paying as little as possible.