SIA cabin crew to see average pay shrink by up to 70%

Singapore

STARTING April, several thousand Singapore Airlines' (SIA) employees will be taking several days of compulsory no-pay leave (CNPL) each month as the airline and its unions work to save jobs amid the unprecedented mauling carriers worldwide are receiving from the Covid-19 virus.

Pilots will see CNPL of between four and seven days a month from Apr 1, with captains taking seven days of CNPL per month. First officers and second officers will take five days and four days a month respectively. Pilots over the age of 62 and on re-employment contracts will be placed on a six-month-long furlough.

Executives and associates at SIA are also facing varying days of CNPL each month, while those currently on re-employment contracts will be furloughed for three months. Executives and associates will take one day of CNPL in April, and this will be stepped up to two days a month from May onwards until the operating environment picks up again.

While not on CNPL, SIA's 9,000-strong cabin crew will see a decline in their monthly pay packet from a loss of flying hours following crippling capacity cuts by the airline. However, a large number of them are said to have opted to take up SIA's voluntary no-pay leave scheme.

In response to queries from The Business Times, president of the Air Line Pilots Association - Singapore (Alpa-S), Captain Kenneth Lai, said: "These measures, together with no flying being done, will result in an average of up to 55 per cent salary cuts for captains, up to 50 per cent cuts for first officers and up to 15 per cent cuts for second officers." The figures of 15-50 per cent represent a percentage of pilots' total monthly salary package, which includes both a basic salary and a variable component linked to flying. Typically, the variable component accounts for about 40 per cent of the monthly package.

At nearly 2,400 active members, Alpa-S represents about 95 per cent of the pilot population for SIA, SilkAir and SIA Cargo.

SIA is also offering voluntary no-pay leave for all staff up to divisional vice-presidents. The cost-cutting measures, agreed upon with the various unions, will affect a total of about 10,000 employees. The group employs over 27,000 staff worldwide.

Meanwhile, the monthly salary for cabin crew will fall by as much as 60-70 per cent owing to the loss of flying hours, BT understands. Their monthly wages include both a salary and a variable component linked to flying hours.

A spokesman for SIA said: "These measures will have a financial and personal effect on all staff and we thank them for their sacrifices during this extremely challenging time." The spokesman added that SIA staff will be able to work for other companies during the time that they are on no-pay leave and furlough.

SIA's senior management will also be taking steeper salary cuts starting April, led by chief executive Goh Choon Phong. He will now take a bigger salary cut of 30 per cent from Apr 1 - versus 15 per cent announced previously - while executive vice-presidents and senior vice-presidents will take cuts of 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

All this comes after Singapore's flag carrier said on Monday that it would be forced to make sweeping capacity cuts of 96 per cent until end-April. This will see it ground 138 SIA and SilkAir planes from their combined fleets of 147 aircraft. Meanwhile, its low-cost unit Scoot is suspending the vast majority of its network and grounding 47 of its 49 aircraft.

SIA is not the only airline forced to make hard decisions as an unprecedented crisis rocks the global aviation industry. With countries tightening their borders to fend off the pandemic, airlines worldwide have become collateral damage, slashing their network and grounding planes, prompting some carriers to warn of layoffs and furloughs.

Shares in SIA gained 53 cents to close at S$5.89 on Tuesday.