View Full Version : SQ and JAL expat pilot sackings?
Wiley
12th Mar 2009, 13:00
Any truth to reports of a large-ish number of expat contract pilots getting immediate DCMs* at both SQ and JAL?
(*Don't Come Mondays)
747guru
12th Mar 2009, 13:32
CNBC TV were running a story yesterday that SQ are looking for "volunteers" for unpaid leave covering the next 2 yrs.....seems they see things stagnating for a while to come? No mention of expats or whether this is a pax or cargo "downsizing"
harley12
12th Mar 2009, 13:32
True,
As many as 90 Expat Capt's will loose their jobs with SIA this year...Also the Co is offering No pay Leave up to 2 years or volontary retirement...And it's only the beginning!!! There will be less than a hundred Expat Pilots left at the end of this year...!
TO BE FOLLOWED..:hmm:
captainspeaking
12th Mar 2009, 14:39
Yet news agencies keep on their relentless bombardment of news forecasting a sure and decisive economic recovery for 2010.
'tis a hysterisis curve, my friend. By the time the economy have hauled itself out of the gutter and pilot demand is recognized, all the experienced crews will be time-expired and gainfully employed cutting the grass at golf clubs. Airline management have an absolute genius for not taking the long view.
mach 84
12th Mar 2009, 18:03
do not forget nationalism!
was 96 early 97 if iremember correctly that thai kicked out all the expats and turned into a purely national airline, singapore will be happy to do the same within the next 2 years and the slumping world economy is ofcorse helping them to achieve this goal!
parabellum
12th Mar 2009, 22:16
Mach 84 - Have you ever worked for SQ? I did for ten years and they seemed quite happy with expats then. What is happeneing now is a reaction to the current economic situation and of course expats will be the first to go, that is contained within the labour laws of Singapore and many other countries.
Bigmouth
13th Mar 2009, 08:32
Yes. With a whopping 1hrs notice.
It hasn't changed, folks, with SQ.
Dial the clock back to late 1980 and it will be found that the SQ management (such as they were) did exactly the same, during the Iranian oil price increase...only to be very short of FD crew exactly one year later.
Panic stations management style is never cost effective.
FrequentSLF
13th Mar 2009, 14:22
411A
SQ has been profitable for years, if I recall well the last loss was during the SARS.
Not the result of a "Panic stations management".
Yes, SLF, they have been profitable...however the view from inside is entirely different, with regard to FD crew.
I would submit that they haven't learned anything new in the last thirty years in the employee relations department.
FrequentSLF
13th Mar 2009, 14:29
411A
I misunderstood your first post.
Since I do not have any knowledge from the inside with regard to FD crew, I will not comment further
FSLF
mach 84
13th Mar 2009, 16:27
parabellum
you got my point, was offered a job with them back in 1998 but turned it down as i could not commute, have no hard feelings towards them at all, i just was pointing out the trend that most of the airlines now try to go national. have some friends which are still flying there but they are not sure if they will keep their jobs till the end of the contarct. unpaid leave...................etc, etc
Kato747
14th Mar 2009, 03:46
CAPTAINSPEAKING:
Could you please let me know where I can find one of those Golfcourse groundskeeping jobs? Bills to pay, you know...... :ugh:
capt. solipsist
14th Mar 2009, 16:14
The SQ situation: SO FAR, people on the main fleet are still ok. However, it really looks grim for the boys in SIAcargo. Their flying time is down and they have already let go of approx. 100 pilots.
Of course officially, the news is that SIA is not retrenching. True, but neither are they renewing expat contracts. They are offering voluntary no-pay leave on the main, and compulsary no-pay leave for the cargo. At the end of the day, you still end up jobless in both scenarios!
They've shut down their foreign bases in Brisbane and Perth which displaced about 50 Aussie pilots on the B777.
The SIN budget carriers are not too affected. JetStar Asia has not slowed down much, same with Tiger.
taupo2tahoe
15th Mar 2009, 03:15
As far as JAL goes, they gave out the pink slips to all 130 "foreign" pilots based in Honolulu with 30 days notice. Some had been with the airline for 17 years. Less than half the crews had only recently transfered onto the B747-400 from the classic. Not much in the way of prospects out there for the classic guys! A great group of people let go without even a word of thanks.
capt. solipsist
15th Mar 2009, 05:15
By April 09, 138 gaijins (foreigners) would have lost their jobs in JALWAYS. This is the wing of JAL w/c flies international runs & hires foreigners.
LCC pilots apparently have no reason to be nervous (fingers crossed) because the LCCs are even gaining in pax load factors in these financially critical times. People are scrimping on travel and migrating from the legacy carriers.
Rishworth though says that only LCCs in Japan, Vietnam & India are really hiring at the moment.
Inspecthergadget
16th Mar 2009, 15:36
True that some companies are indeed having a bad time in recession but there are those that will continue to make money even in an Economic downturn. What irks me more than ever is when multi nationals like SQ see the present climate as an opportunity to get away with mass layoffs of staff who are more expensive than their local counterparts, hence the recent threads on the subject.
Please note that this is an observation and in no way reflects my personal situation but if you've still got a very well paid job now is the time to take a good look at what your employer is upto as you could be next.
parabellum
18th Mar 2009, 09:44
The SQ situation: SO FAR, people on the main fleet are still ok.
Not so, a friend of mine with nearly eighteen years service with mainline and both 744 and Airbus340-500 rated is not getting his contract renewed.
Hope everyone can see the bigger picture on what SQ management has done so far.
Please read between the lines and not take the printed words on TCC and FSI too literally.
Better still, read the whole TCC from a lawyer's point of view.
You'll see the 'real' message what the management is trying to convey.
Long story short is, HR boss trying to score points with the directors, since
he has political agenda.
This CO will still hire expats and more will join.
40 years of history proves my point.
Best of luck to those who were forced to leave on such short notice.
Let this be a painful lesson to all who 'dream' of joining this CO in the
future.
:ok: