<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>SIA, pilots sign new benefits, pay pact
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jamie Ee Wen Wei
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->It has been a year-long battle over pay and benefits between Singapore Airlines and its pilots. But last Friday, a Points of Agreement putting into effect a new Collective Agreement (CA) was signed by both sides.
The new CA saw little change from the previous pact except for the variable components built into the pilots' pay.
Under the new CA, which took effect on Nov 1 and runs for three years, pilots and first officers will get a standard monthly variable component (MVC) of 10 per cent built back into their salaries. This will put them on a par with all other SIA staff.
Previously, they had both the annual variable component (AVC) and MVC taken out of their salaries and treated as separate components. For captains, the total variable component was 16.5 per cent. It was 11 per cent for first officers.
These variable components were designed by the airline after the industry was hit by the Sars crisis in June 2003. It sent SIA into the red during its July to September quarter that year.
In an e-mail statement to Bloomberg, SIA spokesman Stephen Forshaw called the wage negotiations 'challenging'.
Captain P. James, president of the Air Line Pilots Association-Singapore, told The Sunday Times that the pilots would revisit the more contentious issues 'when times are better'.
The latest they have to get back to the discussion table is in 21/2 years - six months before the CA expires.
One issue that both sides could not agree on was the company's 'cruise captain' proposal. Essentially, the company wants to cut costs by replacing one of the captains on certain long-haul flights with a 'suitably qualified first officer', said Capt James.
Each flight typically has two captains and either one or two first officers. Both sides could not agree on the terms and conditions on this matter.
The agreement comes against a backdrop of falling global air traffic and a worldwide economic slowdown.
Mr Steven Lim from Daiwa SB Investments told Bloomberg: 'The bottom line is to reduce costs.' The Ministry of Manpower had stepped in to assist the two sides earlier this year.
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jamie Ee Wen Wei
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->It has been a year-long battle over pay and benefits between Singapore Airlines and its pilots. But last Friday, a Points of Agreement putting into effect a new Collective Agreement (CA) was signed by both sides.
The new CA saw little change from the previous pact except for the variable components built into the pilots' pay.
Under the new CA, which took effect on Nov 1 and runs for three years, pilots and first officers will get a standard monthly variable component (MVC) of 10 per cent built back into their salaries. This will put them on a par with all other SIA staff.
Previously, they had both the annual variable component (AVC) and MVC taken out of their salaries and treated as separate components. For captains, the total variable component was 16.5 per cent. It was 11 per cent for first officers.
These variable components were designed by the airline after the industry was hit by the Sars crisis in June 2003. It sent SIA into the red during its July to September quarter that year.
In an e-mail statement to Bloomberg, SIA spokesman Stephen Forshaw called the wage negotiations 'challenging'.
Captain P. James, president of the Air Line Pilots Association-Singapore, told The Sunday Times that the pilots would revisit the more contentious issues 'when times are better'.
The latest they have to get back to the discussion table is in 21/2 years - six months before the CA expires.
One issue that both sides could not agree on was the company's 'cruise captain' proposal. Essentially, the company wants to cut costs by replacing one of the captains on certain long-haul flights with a 'suitably qualified first officer', said Capt James.
Each flight typically has two captains and either one or two first officers. Both sides could not agree on the terms and conditions on this matter.
The agreement comes against a backdrop of falling global air traffic and a worldwide economic slowdown.
Mr Steven Lim from Daiwa SB Investments told Bloomberg: 'The bottom line is to reduce costs.' The Ministry of Manpower had stepped in to assist the two sides earlier this year.
