Word: sia
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...government suggested last summer that it might sell its stake in SIA. It is also considering allowing a low-fare competitor to start up at Changi. SIA executives say they could respond by converting SilkAir, their Asian regional carrier, into a low-fare airline...
There's no doubt, though, that the government helps keep labor costs in line, in part through intimidation. There has never been a strike at SIA. In 1980, when pilots complained about pay, the country's Prime Minister threatened to fire every pilot and ground the airline, and the pilots' union was fined and shut down. A new union was formed a few months later. Today a 747 captain with 10 years' experience makes about $118,000 a year at SIA, compared with about $258,000 at a U.S. carrier. After the 9/11 attacks, the airline cut management salaries...
...SIA is decidedly retro in certain respects, including its celebration of what it calls the Singapore Girl, selected for her beauty, grace and youth. There are male flight attendants at SIA, but they get little attention. Until a few years ago, SIA insisted flight attendants (even married ones) who became pregnant resign. Since 1996, it has rehired some for short-haul flights. Even now, though, frequent passengers notice that the female flight attendants never seem to age. Few customers complain. "I'm 55, and so are the flight attendants on American Airlines in first class, and I appreciate their ... experience...
Nonetheless, some aviation observers are wondering whether SIA has lost some of its polish. SIA's attempts to stretch overseas through passenger-airline investments in India, the Philippines and New Zealand have turned sour. SIA took a $157 million loss on its investment in Air New Zealand. And a 49% stake in British-based Virgin Atlantic, bought in 1999 for $1.6 billion, has lost, by some estimates, almost two-thirds of its value, though many analysts think the deal will prove profitable in the long...
...SIA's global nature, until now an asset, might begin to work against it. Security concerns, which were heightened after the 9/11 attacks, became even more severe for SIA in the aftermath of the terrorist bombing in Bali, Indonesia, last October. SIA spent $5.8 million last year to install cockpit doors but won't go into any further detail on its security measures. Worsening conflicts in the Middle East could hurt the airline more than they would most of its competitors, because it has extensive routes throughout that region...