Oh, Captain! SIA trims manpower losses by not re-hiring pilots past 62

Old pilots will leave their posts by March.

The flag carrier is trimming its workforce to curb manpower losses. Singapore Airlines today revealed that it will stop re-hiring pilots older than 62 to help contain its pilot surplus.

In response to queries from SBR, SIA stated that it has been dealing with a surplus of pilots in recent years. The national carrier has rolled out a number of measures in an attempt to curb the overload, but the situation has not improved due to network changes and the challenging business environment.

“We therefore regret that we have to take this decision to reduce the surplus further, and are no longer able to offer re-employment to Captains beyond age 62. Captains on existing re-employment contracts will be released on 31 March 2015,” a SIA spokesperson told SBR.

The retirement age for SIA pilots is 62. Prior to this move, re-employment had been offered to Captains through one-year contracts up to the age of 64.

In 2012, SIA also rolled out measures such as voluntary no-pay leave (VNPL) for First Officers and Captains, along with voluntary crossovers to subsidiaries SilkAir and Scoot.

Re-employment for first officers ceased on January 2013, while pilots on fixed-term contracts were terminated on June 2013. SIA stopped re-hiring pilots past 64 starting April 2014.

“ALPA-S and the affected pilots have been informed about this decision, and the Company will provide assistance where possible to pilots who are not re-employed to find alternative employment. We have been contacted by the Ministry of Manpower, and will be working closely with them on this matter,” SIA added.