SIA admits Pilot shortage

[Carthorse]

Channel News Asia reported this morning that SIA had admitted to a shortage of pilots and was planning to recruit 120 expat pilots in FY2001. The link is :

http://sg.cna.mediacorpnews.com//articles/2001/04/08/singaporenews56370.htm

I rather enjoyed the spin on the "efficiency of rostering" and leave cancellations.

The SIA share price on the Singapore exchange is also taking an early bath this morning. Whether this is just a weak market or the smart money just starting to understand the depths of SIA's staffing problems is a moot point at the moment.

Either way it's going to be an interesting week at the ranch ....

[Tom Tipper]

How about paying more money, that might help them?
It would be a good start at least...at present the salary they pay is poor and what they have on offer in Australia is a joke.

[Lewis]

In the news document, it was mentioned that SQ has a base in London. Does SQ base their F/O in LHR as well? If so, are they expats or locals (Singaporean)?

[thegypsy]

Captains only. No expat F/O are ever likely to be required in SIA as they have a factory producing them in vast numbers!!

[mk1eyeball]

believe me when i say that even if SIA increased their pay package by a considerable amount...say 30% i would still never want to work for them.i was there for a few years and cant think of one thing to recommend them for. you r a slave to their money making machine with an appalling lifestyle which will ruin your physical+mental health.
it is hard to explain to the un-initiated how bad it is except to say that i would rather hve given up flying than continued with them...it is that bad..!!!fortunately there are plenty of alternatives and you must consider them all. u will live (and very miserably )to regret it if u venture to SIA ....i did .

[twitchy]

Atlast one can say "LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE SCR**ED BY THESE GUYS" out here in Singapore Airlines.

These basing in OZ looks like a joke to me...

[twitchy]

Oops there was a big write up in Strait Times also on 10th about the pilots shortage here in SQ. ST writes that SQ will be hiring 120 Expat pilots for there operation soon. Do you think that SQ will get anyone for the present peanuts of the money they are offering.

Sorry I forgot that you can by monkeys for the peanuts..................

Salute to high hopes they have.

[Airbubba]

The latest issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology has an ad for SIA (Mauritius) 747-400 captains out of LAX. However, the salary given is only US$113,000, pretty pathetic by U.S. standards (except perhaps Atlas).

[Seeyouentee]

Its a shame really. SIA have in the past provided good opportunities for pilots to advance their careers. All they had to do was treat them with some respect and their present pilot shortage wouldn`t be happening. Money is not an issue if guys (and girls) are treated well and not shafted by managers who enjoy denigrating pilots as much as possible.
The bad press that SIA have suffered has certainly made everyone think twice about working for them. As a wide body Captain who previously had those aspirations, I woudn`t apply now until the company has shown that they have a more caring and less authoritarian management.
They are going to have to throw a few carrots to attract staff. Giving pilots a preferential bidding system, the same as many other airlines, to give them some control over their lives would be a start.

[In the slot]

Mk1eyeball, you certainly sound a bitter fellow. Admittedly, things are far from "peachy" in the SQ ranks at the moment, though your comments are those of someone with an axe to grind. My first question to you is...Which airline do you now fly for, which must be the best in the world to keep you happy.... secondly...If I left a terrible airline to fly somewhere so much better, I'd enjoy myself in my new job, make friends and go out, instead of sitting on the computer complaining about my past life!!

Back to the point for those who it is relevant to....SQ can never attract the right calibre of applications when offering overseas basings which do not allow for the far higher taxes in the said countries, especially when other so-called less desirable airlines are offering much more. Pilots are not as keen to work for SQ and live in SIN to the extent that they were before, and until the company stops being so arrogant in their crewing and rostering policy, the situation will worsen.

One last note. People are not entirely happy, but then there are plenty of expats who have been here for many contracts and know what happens. If the competition is so much nicer to its employees, why have they not left donkeys years ago??????? Read about BA pay and maybe that will offer a hint!!!

[Tosh26]

In the Slot

Nice post and at the end you say:

“One last note. People are not entirely happy, but then there are plenty of expats who have been here for many contracts and know what happens. If the competition is so much nicer to its employees, why have they not left donkeys years ago??????? Read about BA pay and maybe that will offer a hint!!!”

Well the answer to that is that a lot of the ex-pat guys who have stayed have done so for the following reasons:

· They have acquired local wives/girlfriends and children during their time in Singapore.
· Alternatively their wives have well-established jobs in Singapore.
· Their children are well and long time established in Singapore school.
· In past years the remuneration package was better than now.
· A number of the OZ ‘89er pilots cannot get work at home and SIA shamelessly trades on this
· Hope springs eternal in the breast of man (though now extinguished in SQ man).

Those pilots unconstrained by the above tend to go for all the reasons previously aired on pprune.

[Gladiator]

I do not think mk1eyeball is bitter. He has walked the SIA walk. I too have walked the SIA walk and agree with his post word for word.

We are not bitter, we are just telling it the way it is. For me Singapore Airlines was an undesirable life experience.

Treatment of people on Planet Singapore is nothing short of disgusting.

[In the slot]

Tosh26, points are well taken though as we all know it's a judgement call with SO many variables.If you want more money or better roster control then unfortunately something else suffers. Fact of life which we all know. How bout SIN base with Korean??!!Visit the EasyJet seminar in SIN 28Apr-01May to check out your options.
Gladiator on the other hand CONTINUES to linger around SQ even though he no longer works here and used it to step to another job.It's no surprise you agree with mk1eyeball as your new airline and location are obviously not keeping you occupied or fulfilled. I know plenty of guys who have left SQ with no major problems and look back at their time with as much fondness and good humour as frustration or anger. Gladiator is the grass really greener, or is the snow whiter???

[mcrit]

So SQ are very short of pilots?
Have just received a reply to my e.mailed CV responding to the Flight Int. advert. SIA(M) B777 based in OZ. I would guess that this ad is a scam for sure. As I am a B757/767 TRI/TRE with 10,000 Hrs was a little taken aback to just get the 'Dear John' reply. O well prob a lucky escape.!!

[addinfurnightem]

MCRIT - If you want to join SQ then don't give up. Somehow the system is rejecting highly qualified people, we here think it is politics, pure and simple, the pilots are in the middle of a contract dispute with the company.
SQ have no conscience when it comes to screwing POTENTIAL recruits about, if they are not seen to reject people then they might appear to be desperate and short of crew, (which they most definitely are).
You must now place yourself in the position of the beggar and apply again, this way they "keep face". The aircraft are good, Singapore is not such a bad place to live as an expat.(NOT on Local terms), you go to nice places, stay in nice hotels etc.
Currently they seem to be cutting out the pension fund, (S$1200pm) and are thinking of abolishing the 'Expat' allowance, (S$1025pm), though the latter is not confirmed.
Should you choose to continue with your application then I suggest you write directly to the Chief Pilot, B777 Fleet, 720 New Upper Changi Road East, Singapore 486852.
A word of caution, SIA is what they call a "Captain's Airline" for expats. and the B747-400 is the place to be.

[mk1eyeball]

in the slot...
lets not over-react,u sound as if u took my post rather personally..mmm
u hve mis interpreted it somewhat too...i found the whole SIA experience pretty miserable.. and rather a sad reflection on the metality and character of people there. it certainly perveyed the impression that the phsyci was to make life difficult and unpleasant as possible and to strive to bring your fellow men down,and to hold something over u to give them power.they seem to take pleasure and a sense of power and fortitude at someone elses mis-fortune."kick a man when he's down" was almost a mantra out there.this applied to all...locals or others..quite strange and rather sad ,dont u think..
my life now is extremely enjoyable,due in no small part to my present company and place of abode.
in SIA i had no proper roster because it was always disrupted by stby's as the moral was so bad and everyone so knackered that it was seen as a given right to use it..and frequently ,funny how we were always called out for the long 8-12 day trips + to europe mid-winter.thus wiping out the remainder of the roster with more stby's.etc etc etc..
add to that all the other remarks from others who hve experienced the SIA/singapore deal, all of which i can empathise with as being mostly 'on the nail' it was pretty dire !!!
things have always been pretty bad in SIA , moral wise,and i was there in 1988+...
it was an experience not to be repeated.
life now is very sweet indeed !!

[wa4lp3]

I am going to stick my neck out here a bit and say that no pilot is ever totally happy with their employment situation whether it be SIA or any other. Are we all searching for the perfect job that doesn't exist?

[MAXQ]

Is it possible for myself with an ICAO ATPL and 7000 hours TT, 5000 hours PIC, but no time in a wide bodied jet, to get an interview with SQ?

[Tosh26]

MCRIT

Not too sure that addinfurnightum is giving you full advice here and his view of the situation may not include certain factors. Whilst he is absolutely correct in his view that SIA will screw anyone around, including potential recruits, I don’t think his reading of this particular recruiting situation exactly hits the nail. Majority guess round here is that SQ is initially aiming at type experienced Emirates 777 drivers with a yen to return home from the desert to dunnunda and that the remuneration package is carefully aimed at them. They are also testing the market (in the usual manner) for non-type rated pilots and if they get sufficient response volume they will then offer the poor wannabes a lower rate as “the advertised one was for experienced type rated captains” (please understand this – it happens all the time here – the “management” is unbelievably now offering lower rates than last month, to resolve the current CA dispute mentioned!). Further believe it or not, the SQ fleet masterminds are so introverted that they still see SQ as the be all and end all of pilot aspiration and think it the airline of first choice to which the pilots will come regardless of terms and conditions, overlooking the very attractive situations offered elsewhere and particularly to OZ pilots, by Korean Airlines (KAL).
Please be well aware, however, that addinfurnightum is again absolutely correct about the “pension fund” – actually called the Provident Fund – no new pilot OZ/US or Singapore based will ever be offered this again and he is similarly correct about the ex-pat allowance, which if our new authoritarian general has his way, will disappear shortly – all of which further supports our view on likely treatment of wannabes crazy enough to chase the mirage.
Should you not choose to continue with your application then I suggest you have made a very wise decision. I would further suggest that you read (or re-read) all the recent SIA threads here on pprune where you will be able to get a very good idea of how you would be treated and paid if you were ill-advised enough to join and then contact KAL (or the employment agencies in the back of FI - they all deal with KAL) which airline is still very short of pilots with your kind of experience and who last year looked very favourably on drivers with extensive 757/767 experience, for conversion to the 777. Get in quick, however, ahead of the rush of SIA 777 refugees who will be going there once the back pay (if any) and annual bonus are paid – you’ll cut out a very painful part of your career development!
Good luck!

[Gladiator]

In the slot I disagree with your statement, "Gladiator used SIA to get his current job".

I was qualified for my current job previous to joining SIA in 1991. I join SIA with 3000 hrs and a jet type rating. Secondly yes, the grass is very much greener, after 3.5 years, I have not found anything to complain about.

As for the snow, I bid mexico mostly. The snow country is not really my taste. You see, here we choose where to go, when go, and we even have the option of who to go with. Amazing is it not?

Yes the perfect airline does exist. After SIA most places are very green.

[Lee]

Gladiator,

But I'm sure you missed the Persian Caviar, and the Singapore Girls! Now, there is something to complain about right?

[In the slot]

Gladiator
Still there?? Hmmmm, even more bored than I thought!! Must be all the days off, or maybe that 5 day layover in Cancun with no standby. Maybe you should hook up with another ex SQ F/O who went from the verge of a command in SIA to a S/O with QF via a half finnished B777 conversion at Emirates. To me that's not exactly a move Einstein would be proud of, though you two would probably see eye to eye.

[albinexpress]

Any truth in the story that Easyjet has sent a "roadshow" to Singapore in effort to recruit pilots?

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[ITman]

Not quite the same vein as the thread topics so far but relates to the thread I have it on good authourity there are 5 x new Boeings sitting at the factory waiting for pilots to operate them. They must be in bad shape......

[411A]

Notice that not much has changed at SQ over the years. In 1978 there was a massive recruitment drive on to the B707 so promotions to the B747 were not delayed, and still they were very short. Salary, then and now, was the problem. But unlike now, in the late 70's SQ treated new crew very well. What goes 'round comes 'round.

[mktong]

hie everyone!
may i know what is the requirement for the direct entry first officer and second officer for SIA?i heard that SIA used to take candidates with CPL,was it true? are they doing so right now ? please help!!!!!!

[EasyGo-Lucky?]

SQ does not take direct entry F/O or S/O anymore only cadet pilots. Some cadets had FAA CPL/IR licences prior to joining, but that licence is not highly regarded by SQ and so subsequently they had to attend almost the entire cadet pilot course. Nearly all cadets are from Singapore or Malaysia with a small number from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and India.

[MCDONALD FRANCIS JR]

MCRITT

You made a point. A friend of mine, an excellent professional with impeccable records, more than 7,000 hr PIC on glass cockpit (737-300 & 767) 11,000 TT, submited an application to SIA and two months later received an email from SIA's Flt Ops Mangement inviting him to join an interview and pre-employment testing in Singapore, for 777 Captain position.
He did all the necessary arrangements, get the necessary days off with the airline he was employed, hurried in getting the necessary paperwork, confirmed everything by phone with that Flt Ops Manag and wait.
More than two weeks later, as propective date of his trip to Singapore was closing, he emailed SIA about the airtickets and further confirmation.
Guess what/ He received the following reply: "We studied your resume carefully and decided not to consider you for the scheduled interview.
Regret about this and thanks for your interest in SIA."
Have anybody witnessed something more stupid, professional disrespectful and arrogant behavior before?
He emailed and phoned that Flt Ops in disbelief, trying to understand and all he could get was: " the airline is no obliged to give any explantion"....
What one can expect when already get trapped?

[mktong]

As my situation,im a Malaysian with a FAA ATP ,is it i will have go thru the SO cadet pilot selection scheme like the rest?if so,what is the requirement to become 1 of their cadet pilot? education?
please help again!!!!!!!!!

[Gladiator]

mktong, the only requirement is this, can sakka or not. If can, congrats.

[twitchy]

mktong..
If you are able to lick them and spy for them, then even an ALTP from Rwanda will be enough... all the best in your efforts