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Singapore Airlines, SilkAir offer cabin crew early release, retirement
Staff have until month's end to apply for scheme that comes with payouts and benefits.
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A Singapore Airlines stewardess returns from a flight at Changi International Airport terminal in Singapore on June 8, 2020, as Singapore prepares to reopen its borders after shutting them to curb the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus.
(AFP/Roslan Rahman)
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ational carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) is offering its cabin crew early release or retirement as it continues efforts to cut costs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
It told The Straits Times on Aug. 12 that the voluntary retirement scheme was introduced in view of the impact of COVID-19 "as well as a slower projected recovery trajectory in international air travel".
Cabin crew members who successfully apply for the scheme will get payouts and benefits. They will have until the end of the month to apply. Trainee crew will not be eligible. The outcome of the applications will be made known by the middle of next month.
"Each application will be considered on its merits and SIA will also take into account operational requirements in the review of applications," said a spokesman.
"We continue to work closely with our unions on the way forward where staff measures are concerned. We will announce any additional measures, if necessary, at the appropriate time."
SIA has almost 9,000 crew members. The scheme also applies to its regional arm SilkAir, which has more than 680 crew members.
According to an e-mail announcing the move seen by ST, SIA said the early retirement and release scheme aims to mitigate the "debilitating business impact of COVID-19". It said the terms and benefits have been determined in collaboration with the Singapore Airlines Staff Union.
Crew members will receive different benefits based on their employment status. Three groups of crew are eligible - those still serving their bond as of Aug. 1, those in the last year of their current contract, and male crew on tenure.
For example, a new Singaporean crew member would be bonded for 18 months after joining SIA and would have to pay a penalty if he or she leaves before the bond ends.
But under this early release and retirement scheme, a crew member who has yet to complete his or her bond could apply to leave early and have the outstanding bond repayment waived if successful.
SIA will also waive any outstanding settling-in loan and give a notice pay-in-lieu, based on the basic salary at the point of departure. Crew members who are still on probation get one month's pay, while confirmed crew members will get three months' pay.
Like all other airlines, SIA has been hard hit by the pandemic.
The carrier is currently operating at just 7 percent of its scheduled capacity as compared with before the pandemic. Some cabin crew have yet to take to the air in months.
Pay cuts of at least 10 per cent and no-pay-leave schemes have been introduced.
Early retirement has also been offered for ground staff and pilots.
This article appeared on The Straits Times newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
