SIA Engineering senior management takes further pay cuts

THE senior management of SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC) has decided to take a further 5 per cent cut to its salaries, accruing with effect from Aug 1, 2020.

That means the senior vice-presidents, executive vice-president and the chief executive officer will now take 20-30 per cent pay cuts, up from the previous 15-25 per cent cuts.

The move is meant to "proactively manage costs", given the "difficult business environment and continued challenging outlook", SIAEC said on Thursday morning.

The deeper pay cuts are in addition to cost management measures implemented in previous months. In April, SIAEC management had already taken bigger cuts while its directors had volunteered a larger reduction in their fees.

SIAEC on Thursday noted that the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the aviation industry has continued unabated, with the lifting of border controls and travel restrictions being slower than expected. Many parked aircraft are thus unlikely to return to service soon.

The pace and extent of recovery for the aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul business is uncertain, without a material uptick in flight activities in the near term, SIAEC added.

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The company said it will maintain adequate liquidity and adjust its response to the evolving situation.

SIAEC shares fell S$0.02 or 1.1 per cent to S$1.82 as at 9.03am on Thursday, after the announcement.

READ MORE: More aerospace firms jettison jobs; further pain if pandemic drags on