- Joined
- Jan 3, 2009
- Messages
- 2,605
- Points
- 0
Singapore Airlines to cut capacity, ground planes
16 Feb 2009, 1238 hrs, AGENCIES
SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines Ltd. said it plans to reduce flights and ground more than a dozen planes as people travel less amid the global economic slowdown.
The carrier said it will reduce capacity by 11 per cent between April and March 2010 from the previous twelve months and decommission 17 aircraft after air cargo shipments fell 20 per cent recently.
"The drop in air transportation has been sharp and swift," the company said in a statement on Monday. "We have to face the reality that 2009 is going to be a very difficult year."
Singapore Airlines said last month that it planned to cut flights to the US, Europe and Asia as demand dried up. The airline said last week its October-December profit fell 43 per cent as it flew 4.2 per cent fewer passengers.
The airline said it met with worker unions on Monday to discuss voluntary leave without pay, voluntary early retirement and shorter work months. Managers will cut their salaries first if necessary, the carrier said.
"We will contemplate retrenchment only as a last resort, but we do not have the luxury of time," the company said. "We need to agree and act on some measures quickly so that we can push back the point of retrenchment as far as possible."
Singapore is facing its worst recession since splitting from Malaysia in 1965 as exports plummet. Gross domestic product shrank a seasonally adjusted, annualized 16.9 per cent in the fourth quarter, and the government expects GDP in 2009 to contract as much as 5 per cent.
16 Feb 2009, 1238 hrs, AGENCIES
SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines Ltd. said it plans to reduce flights and ground more than a dozen planes as people travel less amid the global economic slowdown.
The carrier said it will reduce capacity by 11 per cent between April and March 2010 from the previous twelve months and decommission 17 aircraft after air cargo shipments fell 20 per cent recently.
"The drop in air transportation has been sharp and swift," the company said in a statement on Monday. "We have to face the reality that 2009 is going to be a very difficult year."
Singapore Airlines said last month that it planned to cut flights to the US, Europe and Asia as demand dried up. The airline said last week its October-December profit fell 43 per cent as it flew 4.2 per cent fewer passengers.
The airline said it met with worker unions on Monday to discuss voluntary leave without pay, voluntary early retirement and shorter work months. Managers will cut their salaries first if necessary, the carrier said.
"We will contemplate retrenchment only as a last resort, but we do not have the luxury of time," the company said. "We need to agree and act on some measures quickly so that we can push back the point of retrenchment as far as possible."
Singapore is facing its worst recession since splitting from Malaysia in 1965 as exports plummet. Gross domestic product shrank a seasonally adjusted, annualized 16.9 per cent in the fourth quarter, and the government expects GDP in 2009 to contract as much as 5 per cent.
