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SINGAPORE – The Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) is cutting jobs amid the fallout from Covid-19.
Staff were made aware of this during a virtual town hall on Thursday (September 10).
The airline said in a statement: “The Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) announced today the difficult decision to cut around 4,300 positions in its airlines. After taking into account the hiring freeze, natural wear and tear and the adoption of plans for voluntary departure, the potential number of affected employees will be reduced to about 2,400 in Singapore and at overseas stations.
“This decision was made in light of the long road to recovery of the global airline industry due to the debilitating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the urgent need for the group’s airlines to adapt to an uncertain future.”
The layoffs were widely anticipated and came as international travel continues to stall, and governments impose strict border controls to contain the pandemic.
While there has been a reopening in recent weeks for essential commercial and official travel between Singapore and select countries, including China, passenger and flight numbers are a small fraction of the days leading up to the pandemic.
The International Air Transport Association has said that passenger demand for air travel is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels until 2024.
In July, SIA had reported a net loss of $ 1.12 billion in the quarter ending June 30, its biggest quarterly loss on record, as demand plummeted amid travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Group revenue fell 79.3 percent to $ 851 million year on year, while expenses fell 51.6 percent to $ 1.89 billion, the company said at the time.
Passenger transport fell at SIA, SilkAir and Scoot, resulting in a 99.5 percent decrease for the company.
At the height of the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003, which was less devastating than the current pandemic, SIA laid off several hundred employees, including pilots and cabin crew.
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