JammedStab
It must be hard to compete when you are paying the entire cost of ab initios. I wonder what the cost is per pilot.
Not quite so. Singapore Air has its own training facilities that appeared costly, but financially (accounting purpose), it's a tax haven on top of having full control of numbers of copilots they churn out each year.
The training cost is highly inflated to ensure profit write down, resulting savings in liable tax. The trainees are obligated to pay back a portion of training cost, not a big amount, and in installments.
Ab initials are required to observe a bond of 7 years, after being fully qualified in the right seat. Anyways, the locals are generally not adventurous, 99% stick around. I would too consider the overall job security and stability.
Right now financially they are heading south mainly due to downtown of luxurious travel segment and the caught up by many other regional carriers to compete against SQ sliding service quality. Excess pilots are not as big a cost issue since only basic pay is guaranteed.
Flexicrew