Singapore Airlines will ground around 138 of its 147 SIA and SilkAir aircraft. The carrier announced the move on Monday, March 23, along with a cut of 96 per cent to the capacity it had scheduled through the end of April.
Scoot, its low-cost arm, will suspend most of its network too, taking 47 of its 49 planes out of service. SIA called the situation “the greatest challenge that the SIA group has faced in its existence.”
The announcement confirmed an earlier Business Times report that the national carrier was studying whether to store some of its planes. It came a day after Singapore moved to bar most foreign visitors from entering or even transiting Changi Airport, the group’s hub.
The airline said it could not say when normal service would resume. Everything depends on when the stringent border controls are lifted. A list of flight cuts on its website showed some cancellations running into summer.
Newark nonstop among the casualties
Among the apparent casualties is the Newark to Singapore nonstop, which had been the world’s longest scheduled commercial flight since it resumed in October 2018. The Points Guy found no U.S. flights on sale past March 30. In normal times the airline serves six U.S. airports: Houston Bush Intercontinental, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Newark Liberty, San Francisco and Seattle. Seattle service started only in September 2019.
SIA said that with no domestic market in such a small country, it and Scoot are “more vulnerable when international markets increasingly restrict the free movement of people or ban air travel altogether.” Emirates, the largest carrier of international passengers, had also announced a two-week suspension of all flights after the United Arab Emirates enacted a flight ban taking effect on Wednesday, March 25.
What management is doing
Chief executive Goh Choon Phong said staff and customers remained the priority. “We continue to focus on getting as many of our passengers as possible back home safely and protecting the jobs of our people,” he said in a statement. He thanked employees for their sacrifices and apologised to customers. The airline had more than doubled the handling capacity at its service centres and sales offices.
On costs, directors and management are taking salary and fee cuts, and a voluntary no-pay leave scheme applies to certain management positions. The airline said unions had been engaged on further measures, with more steps coming imminently. It is also in talks with aircraft makers to defer payments and deliveries, has drawn on its credit lines to meet immediate cash needs, and is negotiating with several financial institutions on future funding.
Shares in the listed company were down 8.1 per cent, or S$0.49, at S$5.53 as of 9.34am on Monday.
Sources
- SIA confirms 96% capacity cuts, grounding 138 planes
- Singapore Airlines slashes 96% of capacity, including all US flights
