Singapore Airlines to Lose 4,300 Jobs Because of Pandemic

Singapore Airlines announced it would be cutting about 4,300 jobs, roughly 20% of their entire workforce, because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the airline.

About 1,900 jobs have already been cut due to a recruitment freeze, natural attrition and voluntary departures, reducing further expected job cuts to around 2,400.

Goh Choon Phong, Singapore Airlines chief, said “Given the expectation that the road to recovery will be long and fraught with uncertainty, it has come to the point where we have to make the painfully difficult decision to implement involuntary staff reduction measures.”

Phong added “The future remains extremely challenging,”

Singapore Airlines is currently operating at 8% pre-pandemic capacity, reporting a net loss of $800 million in the first quarter of 2020.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) projects that airlines operating in the Asia-Pacific region could lose a combined $27.8 billion in 2020.