Agence France Presse October 8, 2001 SINGAPORE THE SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) said October 8 its management are to take pay cuts of seven to 15 percent as part of efforts by the group to contain costs. The wage cuts would also apply to senior management in SIA subsidiary companies. Airline chief executive Cheong Choong Kong will take a 15 percent cut in his basic pay, other executive staff will have their salaries reduced 10 percent and management-level staff will take a seven percent cut, the airline said in a statement. SIA is also holding discussions with unions about wage cuts, and directors on boards of SIA and its subsidiaries have offered to take a 30 percent cut in their fees. Cheong had warned last month that the slowdown in the economy, and the additional impact of the terrorist attacks in the United States was hurting traffic flows. He said the carrier, Asia's most profitable airline, was reviewing its operations. Retrenchments could not be ruled out, he said, but the airline would first look at other cost-reducing measures. "Capacity will be adjusted to match demand, budgeted growth will be trimmed even it if means lower aircraft utilisation, and all planned expenditure except the essential will be deferred, slowed down or cancelled, including capital expenditures on projects dear to us," he said. The SIA group employs 28,000 people, half of them with
the airline itself and the rest with subsidiaries. |
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