Coronavirus devastates travel industry, forcing Singapore’s airline crews to find other work

Coronavirus outbreak has forced airlines to ground flights, bringing the industry to a virtual standstill

Singapore Airlines announced it would cut 96 per cent of its capacity originally scheduled up to the end of next month

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Coronavirus outbreak has forced airlines to ground flights, bringing the industry to a virtual standstill. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:40am, 26 Mar 2020Updated: 9:46am, 26 Mar 2020

Airline workers such as cabin crew are anxious over their financial future as the aviation industry comes to a virtual standstill worldwide due to the Covid-19 outbreak, with many borders closed and nations in lockdown.

Many of these workers in Singapore are scrambling to supplement their lost income, as they are stood down, or working very few shifts. Singapore Airlines (SIA), for example, grounded almost all its aircraft earlier this week.

“How much I bring back a month solely depends on my flights. So with a lot of my flights being cancelled, it’s as good as me bringing back just my basic [salary] which isn’t sustainable,” said one 25-year-old SIA flight attendant, who declined to be named.

She has applied for unpaid leave because the chances of being called up for a flight during this period are “highly unlikely” – and is now considering helping her aunt who runs a food stall to wrap rice for S$10 (US$7) per hour.

Another flight attendant, who works for a different airline but is based in Singapore, said he has started a part-time job at a retail store, where he works three times a week. He also declined to be named.

The 29-year-old started the job after noticing a 50 to 80 per cent loss from his usual monthly income of about S$3,500 a month. He added that in a normal month he would work an average of 16 days but worked only six so far in March.

SIA on Monday announced it would cut 96 per cent of its capacity originally scheduled up to the end of next month, and would ground 138 SIA and SilkAir planes out of its total fleet of 147.