Singapore Airlines becomes second Asian carrier to announce job cuts after cull of 600 roles at Cathay Pacific last month
Airlines struggling to compete for transit passengers with Middle East and Chinese mainland airport hubs and unable to rely on growth in their own limited home markets
The airlines, which pride themselves on offering quality, have lost money to intense competition from budget carriers in the region and international long-haul markets led by Middle East carriers.
The problems at Hong Kong’s flagship carrier resulted in a review that led to a cull of 600 employees last month – Cathay Pacific’s biggest jobs cut in 20 years.
Singapore Airline’s chief executive Goh Choon Phong, who stepped up to the role of chairman of a global airline body on Tuesday, told reporters that some jobs would become “irrelevant” while others would be redeployed. Goh had earlier said he would be “leaving no stones unturned” in his transformation strategy.
Ellis Taylor, an editor at aviation news site FlightGlobal, said Goh’s indications of job cuts were short on detail, but just like the Hong Kong carrier, immediate cost benefits would be found in streamlining administration and management jobs.