Sunday, March 29, 2020
The plight of cabin crew
The cabin crew is going through a distressing time due to the coronavirus that is ravaging the world. It is not just the health part but also the economics. People are losing their jobs and in particular the crew who are not flying because most countries are either on lockdown or closing their borders due to the fear that the virus may infect their citizens.
The cabin crew has been granted permission to find alternative jobs to supplement their income. This applies to the non-pass holders who are on no-pay-leave. I heard about 3,000 SIA cabin crew have applied for VNPL (voluntary no pay leave) but I am not sure how many have been granted. The main reason the crew have applied for VNPL is because of the fear of getting infected while serving passengers who may be carriers of the dreadful coronavirus. The chances of getting the VNPL is good as 96% of the flights have been cancelled resulting in not many crew flying.
Those crew who is not on the VNPL is put on the roster, albeit most are on standby most of the time. They will still receive their basic pay which amount to about 35% of their former take home pay. An example is a stewardess who is drawing an average salary of S$4,500 per month before the outbreak of the coronavirus is now drawing only about $1,500 which is her basic salary. FYI, the bulk of the stewardess salary is the meal allowance, the incentive flying allowance etc which will only be paid when she is on flying duty. Many cannot make ends meet as the drop in their take home pay is drastic. Of course, the worst fear is that of retrenchment.
The situation is grim and there is still no light at the end of the tunnel.
The cabin crew has been granted permission to find alternative jobs to supplement their income. This applies to the non-pass holders who are on no-pay-leave. I heard about 3,000 SIA cabin crew have applied for VNPL (voluntary no pay leave) but I am not sure how many have been granted. The main reason the crew have applied for VNPL is because of the fear of getting infected while serving passengers who may be carriers of the dreadful coronavirus. The chances of getting the VNPL is good as 96% of the flights have been cancelled resulting in not many crew flying.
Those crew who is not on the VNPL is put on the roster, albeit most are on standby most of the time. They will still receive their basic pay which amount to about 35% of their former take home pay. An example is a stewardess who is drawing an average salary of S$4,500 per month before the outbreak of the coronavirus is now drawing only about $1,500 which is her basic salary. FYI, the bulk of the stewardess salary is the meal allowance, the incentive flying allowance etc which will only be paid when she is on flying duty. Many cannot make ends meet as the drop in their take home pay is drastic. Of course, the worst fear is that of retrenchment.
The situation is grim and there is still no light at the end of the tunnel.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Second emergency budget for aviation workers
In the above speech this afternoon, amongst other things, DPM Heng Swee Keat said : "The government would pay 75 per cent of all aviation industry employees’ wages, to a maximum of S$4,600 per month".
In this respect, I think the assistance will help avert retrenchment among the workers in the aviation industry.
You may continue reading here
In this respect, I think the assistance will help avert retrenchment among the workers in the aviation industry.
You may continue reading here
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Sacked crew claimed his case was worse than covid-19
Let me briefly summarise how evil those 8 can be:
1. actively taking statements and VR those lies;
2. plant fake evidence and attached in email sent to SMCMPM, cc control, svp;
3. went out lunch together;
4. tried explaning but was brushed aside telling me save my breath for CI and advise me to plead guilty and leniency then;
5. those that knows the truth refuse to answer my calls for help and refuse come for CI to testify in fear of being on wrong side
6. those that worked with me pretended to stand on my side and promise to testify for me during CI. to my surprise they had already recorded their statements on board and turned up to testify agst me. plus exaggerated so many points;
7. union told me to be humble and leave it to them to fight the case during CI. i heeded their advise and did not utter a word in defence. i was thus deemed guilty as charged
so.... you think those 8 took away more than what covid took from crew?
1. actively taking statements and VR those lies;
2. plant fake evidence and attached in email sent to SMCMPM, cc control, svp;
3. went out lunch together;
4. tried explaning but was brushed aside telling me save my breath for CI and advise me to plead guilty and leniency then;
5. those that knows the truth refuse to answer my calls for help and refuse come for CI to testify in fear of being on wrong side
6. those that worked with me pretended to stand on my side and promise to testify for me during CI. to my surprise they had already recorded their statements on board and turned up to testify agst me. plus exaggerated so many points;
7. union told me to be humble and leave it to them to fight the case during CI. i heeded their advise and did not utter a word in defence. i was thus deemed guilty as charged
so.... you think those 8 took away more than what covid took from crew?
Authorities on the hunt for stewardess who fled a hospital in Parit Buntar, Malaysia. She just returned from Singapore. SQ? Scoot?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/
SIA's pilots to take no pay leave
SIA's pilots will be placed on compulsory no-pay leave (CNPL) of between four and seven days a month starting April 1 as the airline and its unions work together to save jobs in what has been described as an unprecedented crisis for global aviation.
From April 1, Captains will take seven days of CNPL per month, while First Officers and Second Officers will take five days and four days a month respectively.
"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," said Captain Kenneth Lai, president of the Air Line Pilots Association - Singapore (Alpa-S). These figures represent a percentage of pilots' total monthly salary package, which includes both a basic salary and a variable component.
Pilots over the age of 62 and on re-employment contracts will be placed on a six-month-long furlough, "pending the development of the Covid-19 situation over the next few months".
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.
At nearly 2,400 active members, Alpa-S represents about 95 per cent of the pilot population for SIA, SilkAir and SIA Cargo.
To cushion the financial fallout from Covid-19 and save the airline group, other cost-cutting measures put in place by SIA include voluntary no-pay leave for all staff up to divisional vice-presidents. It is also working on deferring upcoming aircraft deliveries in order to defer payments and conserve cash.
Its senior management, led by chief executive Goh Choon Phong, will be taking steeper salary cuts. He will now take a bigger salary cut of 30 per cent from Apr 1, while executive vice-presidents and senior vice-presidents will take cuts of 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.
The flag carrier has also said that it is actively taking steps to shore up its liquidity and is in talks with several financial institutions for funding.
SIA is not the only airline forced to make hard decisions in what industry players describe as an unprecedented crisis for the global aviation industry. With countries worldwide 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.
Businesses across most sectors in the Republic are also feeling the pain, and the Singapore government is poised to announce additional support measures this Thursday to help workers, businesses and households deal with the devastating fallout from Covid-19.
Story first published by Business Times
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