Aviation sector on hiring spree but Asian airlines, except for SIA, in no rush to recruit flight crew

MOST of Asia’s tourism-dependent nations are scrambling to ramp up resources to cater to an influx of international visitors, with border controls having been relaxed. However, few Asian airlines have fast-tracked the hiring of flight crew — except for Singapore Airlines (SIA).

In contrast, the Middle Eastern airlines are pulling out all the stops to attract cabin crew to join them; Emirates has even embarked on a 30-city whirlwind global tour to hire 6,000 flight attendants.

Checks by The Business Times on the websites of 12 carriers operating in Asia found that the mainboard-listed SIA group appears to be the only one recruiting pilots and cabin crew. Eva Air of Taiwan is hiring pilots only.

Cathay Pacific has advertised for cadet pilots, even though the Hong Kong-based airline’s fleet is largely grounded due to tight border restrictions and mandatory quarantines in the territory to stamp out the coronavirus. But the airline is said to be inviting ex-employees retrenched in 2020 to submit a “priority application” to fly with the airline again, in preparation for its plan to increase flight frequencies.

AirAsia and Korean Air have not advertised for flight crew, even though they recently reported much higher passenger traffic. Both Malaysia and South Korea reopened their borders and eased testing requirements at around the same time as Singapore.

In fact, a general reopening of borders across the globe is helping many airlines get back on their feet financially.

Among the 12 airlines, Eva Air and Korean Air managed to turn a profit in their latest financial years. Many of the rest that reported results for the latest fiscal year have managed to cut their net losses on the back of higher revenue, compared to the year before.

SIA, for one, reported higher revenue of S$7.6 billion for FY2022 to March — roughly double that of FY2021. It also narrowed its net loss by 78 per cent, to S$962 million. The group reported that its passenger numbers rose to 1.45 million in April: the highest since the pandemic started to wreak havoc on aviation in early 2020.

The preliminary traffic figures for April, released on Monday (May 30) by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), pointed to the improving performance of the 40 international air carriers based in the region: They had more than trebled, year on year, the number of international passengers carried, at a total of 4.8 million in April.

International passenger demand multiplied four-fold, AAPA figures showed, in terms of the distance travelled by paying flyers, reflecting “the strength of longer-haul traffic”. Passenger capacity was 77.5 per cent higher, leading to a 36.3-percentage-point increase in the average international passenger load factor to about 65 per cent for the month — the highest level since the start of the pandemic, AAPA said.

The influx has meant congested airports, with many struggling to handle the sharp increase in passenger traffic. Changi Airport, for instance, has said it is looking to hire more than 6,600 people.

But it is among the airlines that recruiting has been most significant.

SIA’s low-cost unit Scoot is recruiting both pilots and flight attendants. The company’s full-service carrier, meanwhile, is seeking an additional 2,000 cabin crew as it ramps up capacity to capture pent-up demand. SIA had earlier said the number of pilots it let go was small.

This recruitment is the airline’s first after a 2-year hiring freeze and mass layoffs in 2020, in the throes of the pandemic. But SIA is recruiting only from both sides of the Causeway; there are no openings for applicants from other parts of East Asia for now. Asked why this was the case, an SIA spokesperson said: “We will explore re-starting recruitment in other countries at a later date.”

Since March, when recruitment began, SIA has selected over 800 applicants “from an overwhelming number of applications”. Of these, 60 per cent are returning crew. The airline said returning crew are not required to return any of the retrenchment benefits paid out to them earlier if they are re-hired in the present recruitment exercise.

It is perhaps just as well that SIA is moving ahead of its Asian peers, as airlines globally may face stiff competition for talent. Already, Emirates recruiters are travelling from Australia to Europe to Africa in search of cabin crew — crucial to its ability to add flights and capture a larger share of the rising travel demand in the post-pandemic world.

The airline transported nearly 20 million customers over the past year, up 200 per cent, with a 150 per cent jump in seat capacity. “We expect our group to return to profitability in 2022-2023, and we are working hard to hit our targets,” said Manal al-Soori, vice-president of Emiratisation & People Experience at Emirates.

Qatar Airways, another airline from the region, has advertised for flight attendants in 13 cities, as well as for pilots, with positions ranging from cadet to captain.