SIA Headcount Frozen, Staff Might Need To Voluntarily Take No-Pay Leave

Covid-19 isn’t just affecting F&B business and drivers in Singapore.

There’s a megalithic giant that’s also struggling against the coronavirus.

This one.

Singapore Airlines Cut Flights

In a news alert on 18 Feb 2020, Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced that they’ve reduced flights across their networks by 7.1%.

Popular destinations like Tokyo, Jakarta, Seoul and London were not spared.

You can read the full list here.

Cost-Cutting Measures

Of course, when you cut over three thousand flights out of the schedule, you’re going to be in trouble.

Especially when you consider the excess manpower, paying to rearrange passengers’ flights and the loss of flight tickets sales.

The Straits Times reported on 25 Feb 2020 that Singapore Airlines will be stopping all of their recruitment efforts.

And that’s just one out of many measures out on the table.

Staff Might Be Asked To Take No-Pay Leave

After cutting over 3,000 flights, SIA now has excess manpower.

So much so that 500 cabin crew members and 50 pilots now have shorter flight hours.

So, what do you do with these extra manpower? Ask them to clean toilets? Cannot be, right?

Cleaning toilets doesn’t bring in more money.

So so, SIA is reportedly considering to ask for some to take voluntary no-pay leave.

The hiring for ground positions has also stopped for this period.

Precautionary Measures For Ongoing Flights

As for the flights that are still ongoing, SIA highlighted the precautionary measures they’ve taken:

• Cleaning common surfaces like tray tables, handsets and in-flight entertainment screens with disinfectant wipes
• Removing headsets, headrest covers, pillow covers, bedsheets and blankets after every flight sector
• Replacing hot towels with pre-set wet towelettes
• Stopping after take-off drink service
• Removing reading material from seats’ back pockets
• Suspending in-flight sales

Pre-flight temperature screening has also been implemented for all cabin crew and pilots since 29 Jan 2020.

SIA Confident Of Surviving Current Crisis

With such drastic measures, you might imagine a huge boardroom in Changi Airport filled with panicky upper management.

While that might be true, SIA also says that they’re confident of coping with the current crisis.

“After all,” SIA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr Goh Choon Phoong said, “they have successfully navigated 9/11, Sars and the 2008 global financial crisis.”

Now if that’s not positive thinking, we don’t know what is.

This comes shortly after DPM and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat told Singapore businesses to “just take whatever is on the table“.