SINGAPORE : Singapore Airlines pilots who will be flying the new
Airbus A380 fleet will get a better pay package.
In a decision that could set a new benchmark for the aviation
industry, the Industrial Arbitration Court has decided that pilots
should get a pay rise.
The new Airbus A380 planes are larger and have never been used by
other airlines before.
The first of SIA's Airbus A380 fleet is due to arrive in
October.
The Airline Pilots' Association (ALPA-S), led by Captain P James,
had argued that pilots who fly these bigger planes have added
responsibilities and thus deserve a pay rise. And the court
agrees.
Captain James said, "We recognise there is no market data for the
A380. Because there is no market data, we propose just an increase
of S$1,000 for the captains, and the court has awarded S$700 and
that's fine, it's at least more than half way what we wanted, so
why not."
The Court ruled that the minimum salary for Captains on the A380
will be S$700 more than that of captains for the Boeing 747-400
series jet. And this works out to S$10,700 a month.
The maximum salary range will remain at S$16,500, which is also
pegged against the maximum salary for the B-744.
In its ruling, the court also said the minimum salary for first
officers on the A380 will be S$450 more than their colleagues on
the B-744, with the maximum salary remaining at S$9,250.
SIA had earlier argued that flying the super jumbo is not very
different from flying other planes due to technological
advances.
But it says it is studying the implications of this salary
revision.
The airline would have to incur more costs but it is likely to have
little impact on its bottom-line.
The number of pilots affected by the ruling is also small, since
the delivery of the new planes will be spread over the next few
years.
SIA is satisfied with the outcome.
It said that with the judgement, it can now move forward with
certainty and the pilots are keen to get the A380 off the
ground.
Stephen Forshaw, Vice President, Public Affairs, Singapore
Airlines, said, "We have to remember that from time to time, we are
going to have differences of views with unions and issues; there is
a process by which we are going to deal with those issues. I think
at the end of the day, we've now got closure on this issue and we
can now move forward.
"The judgement gives us some scope to work with the collective
agreement negotiation coming up later in the year; the current
agreement expires in September."
And looking forward, the court pointed out that it is not
satisfactory that there must be negotiations for a new pay package
every time SIA buys a new type of aircraft. And this should be
considered when the new collective agreement is being worked
out.
Addressing arguments from both sides, the panel said the ease with
which modern planes may be manoeuvred is not a reason for docking
the pilots' salaries.
Similarly, the size of a plane and the number of passengers carried
cannot remain a reason for increasing the salaries of pilots.
In conclusion, the panel chaired by Justice Tan Lee Meng urged the
ALPA-S and the SIA management to redouble their efforts to ensure
continued success of the company.
He said while the sky is the limit for SIA, the pie in the sky has
to be shared with other airlines who are ordering their affairs to
be keener competitors of SIA. - CNA/ch/ms
$700 for pilot, $450 for co-pilot and
SIA is lamenting about this increase is going to affect future
earning
