Wirraway
16th Jul 2003, 21:13
AAP
Singapore Airlines to start pilot cuts
AFP - Singapore Airlines (SIA) could begin laying off pilots this week, local media reported Wednesday, as the carrier continues efforts to recover from the devastating impact of the SARS health crisis.
Around 40 pilots are believed to be on the list of employees whose services are to be terminated, the Business Times said, citing sources within the airline.
The number has been pruned down from the list of between 100 and 120 pilots originally targeted for retrenchment, reflecting the recovery in travel demand after SARS was contained.
The current list is understood to include a "significant number of foreign-based pilots" working for SIA, but the airline is having some problems as they are covered by employment laws in their own countries, the report said.
Employed by a wholly owned subsidiary, SIA Mauritius, these foreign pilots are based in London, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Los Angeles.
An SIA spokesman would not confirm the Business Times report.
"Any measures we take will be publicised only after the staff and the unions have been informed," he said.
Captain P. James, the spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association Singapore (ALPA-S), the union that covers 1,600 locally based members, said it was the first time he had heard of the news.
"We will try to find out what the reasons are why these people are being released. That's all we can do at the moment," he told AFP.
SIA, one of the world's most profitable airlines before the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic struck in March, employs about 1,800 pilots and 6,600 cabin crew out of 30,000 staff worldwide.
SIA has retrenched 414 staff, implemented sharp wage cuts across the board and offered an early retirement package to its male cabin crew in its bid to cut costs following a plunge in travel demand induced by SARS.
Pilots had their monthly salaries slashed by 16.5 per cent and first officers by 11 per cent. The pilots' union also agreed their members would take up to two days of unpaid leave a month.
Other SIA staff took wage cuts of up to 11 per cent.
SIA recorded historic losses during April and May as travellers shunned East Asia, which bore the brunt of the 800 SARS deaths out of more than 8,000 infections worldwide.
The airline faces its first quarterly loss in the current financial year.
The carrier said Tuesday that passenger and cargo demand was on the rise after SARS was put under control in the region, although business was still well down on last year.
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Singapore Airlines to start pilot cuts
AFP - Singapore Airlines (SIA) could begin laying off pilots this week, local media reported Wednesday, as the carrier continues efforts to recover from the devastating impact of the SARS health crisis.
Around 40 pilots are believed to be on the list of employees whose services are to be terminated, the Business Times said, citing sources within the airline.
The number has been pruned down from the list of between 100 and 120 pilots originally targeted for retrenchment, reflecting the recovery in travel demand after SARS was contained.
The current list is understood to include a "significant number of foreign-based pilots" working for SIA, but the airline is having some problems as they are covered by employment laws in their own countries, the report said.
Employed by a wholly owned subsidiary, SIA Mauritius, these foreign pilots are based in London, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Los Angeles.
An SIA spokesman would not confirm the Business Times report.
"Any measures we take will be publicised only after the staff and the unions have been informed," he said.
Captain P. James, the spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association Singapore (ALPA-S), the union that covers 1,600 locally based members, said it was the first time he had heard of the news.
"We will try to find out what the reasons are why these people are being released. That's all we can do at the moment," he told AFP.
SIA, one of the world's most profitable airlines before the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic struck in March, employs about 1,800 pilots and 6,600 cabin crew out of 30,000 staff worldwide.
SIA has retrenched 414 staff, implemented sharp wage cuts across the board and offered an early retirement package to its male cabin crew in its bid to cut costs following a plunge in travel demand induced by SARS.
Pilots had their monthly salaries slashed by 16.5 per cent and first officers by 11 per cent. The pilots' union also agreed their members would take up to two days of unpaid leave a month.
Other SIA staff took wage cuts of up to 11 per cent.
SIA recorded historic losses during April and May as travellers shunned East Asia, which bore the brunt of the 800 SARS deaths out of more than 8,000 infections worldwide.
The airline faces its first quarterly loss in the current financial year.
The carrier said Tuesday that passenger and cargo demand was on the rise after SARS was put under control in the region, although business was still well down on last year.
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