Singapore Airlines Pay Dispute Drags On After 8 Months

Singapore Airlines Pilot, Management Lock Horns Over Pay, Benefits

The message from Singapore Airlines pilots is loud and clear–pay us more and give us more rest days. In response, the flag carrier says that its salaries are competitive, although its comments on rest days haven’t been made public.

The back-and-forth is part of the Air Line Pilots Association-Singapore (Alpa-S)’s efforts to secure a better deal for SIA pilots.

Negotiations between Alpa-S, SIA management and the Manpower Ministry last week came to nothing, with all parties agreeing to head to Industrial Arbitration Court.

The Straits Times reports that the case may be heard by the end of October.

The case in brief

It’s been an 8-month long dispute between Alpa-S and Singapore Airlines. They’ve been trying to secure a new three-year agreement for SIA pilots–and secure it quickly. The last such agreement expired before April this year.

Negotiations come as SIA launches a major business transformation to raise its revenues. But Alpa-S says this transformation cannot come at the expense of staff.

The union maintains that SIA’s pay is uncompetitive, a point that the carrier denies. But MustShareNews found that the union might be correct.

This former captain reveals that the pay for first officers starts at $6,175. In contrast, the starting pay for the same group at Emirates is 30,070AED (S$11,250). That’s excluding Emirates’ generous accommodation allowance, which adds another S$5,000 to a pilot’s coffers.

These HR policies might be contributing to SIA’s shrinking pilot pool. Singapore Airlines currently has about 2,000 pilots, down from 2,331 in 2011. Aviation analysts say the trend is worrying, since the carrier needs to expand its reach in the coming years.

But in a statement, SIA appears unfazed, saying,

Being a large corporation that invests substantially in training its staff, we recognise that we will sometimes lose pilots and other professional staff who wish to pursue opportunities elsewhere

The SIA brand is a strong and reputable one, and we are confident the brand, coupled with our investment in pilot training, will enable us to retain and attract pilots.

Global demand for pilots is soaring as air travel takes off in India and China. Reports suggest that as many as 600,000 pilots may be needed for these regions alone.

As competition from Middle Eastern and low-cost carriers heats up, Singapore Airlines needs to do everything it can to stay atop the game.

Not the first time pilots are unhappy

This isn’t the first time that SIA pilots are unhappy. In 1980, several were jailed for disrupting services in an effort to secure higher pay. Then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew stepped in to deal with the matter, ordering them to get back to work or risk being fired.

Singapore Airlines management probably wishes Mr Lee was alive right now to deal with today’s pilots.

Featured image from Singapore Airlines.