Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2015

Guess who I bumped into at work! Sorry @ivygoh_ you still have to take more calcium. 😂

A photo posted by Amelia Wong (@a_meliaw) on Sep 19, 2015 at 1:46am PDT

Are SIA girls allowed to post photos of themselves in uniform online?

A STOMPer feels it is inappropriate for Singapore Girls to post pictures of themselves in their uniform kebayas online.

According to the STOMPer, Singapore Girls are not allowed to take pictures of themselves in their uniforms, nor are they allowed to appear in public in them.

The STOMPer wrote:

"Aren't Singapore Girls an internationally recognizable icon already?

"So why are they perpetually taking pictures of themselves in uniforms for?

"Is this even allowed in the first place? I understand SIA does not allow stewardesses to take pictures of themselves in uniform, and they are not supposed to be in uniform in public.

"Or has Singapore Airline relented, lenient and compromising of late to permit such acts?

"Attached are the images of some Singapore Girls in their kebayas."

SOURCE

It is a known fact that SIA has strict rules regarding the usage of social media and what this Stomper just did was exposing the girls that broke the rule. On the other hand, knowingly breaking the rule isn't the right thing to do either. Social media can be a double-edged sword, use it with care.

Air India pilot, crew suspended over mid-air "distraction"

State-run carrier Air India said on Saturday it had suspended a pilot and two female flight attendants after a passenger jet's autopilot system was accidentally switched off "due to distraction".

The event occurred on an Air India Airbus flight to New Delhi from Bangkok last month carrying over 160 passengers and followed a series of other safety-related incidents involving the airline.

Air India denied media reports the pilot and co-pilot had taken a 40-minute cockpit break to snooze in business class seats and left two attendants in their places to operate the plane in their absence.

But it did say the pilot and two air hostesses had been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation and that the two airline attendants had overstayed the allowed length of time in the cockpit.

There was an "overstay of the cabin crew in the cockpit," the airline said, and "due to distraction the co-pilot had touched the autopilot disconnect button momentarily, but the same was connected back".

The airline did not reveal the nature of the distraction but the Times of India newspaper quoted an unnamed Air India source as saying the crew members' actions had "made a mockery of air safety".

Indian media reports alleged the pilots were giving the flight attendants flying lessons.

"At no point of time was the cockpit left unattended by the cockpit crew," the airline statement added.

Earlier this year, Air India suspended a senior pilot caught drunk just before he was to fly a passenger aircraft. Also in the last few years, authorities have discovered at least half a dozen Indian pilots flying aircraft using faked documents, including an Air India pilot.

Air India is the country's fourth-largest airline by market share and has been hit hard by rising fuel prices and fierce competition from private carriers that have added to its legacy of labour problems and crushing debts.

In March, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN aviation watchdog, expressed grave concerns about India's air safety, placing it among the 13 worst-performing nations.

An investigation into the auto-pilot incident is being carried out by India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

"Following a safety violation, the airline has already suspended the people in question," said the agency.

SOURCE

Lazy pilots don't deserve to be pilots. They take safety for granted and did not spare a thought for the safety of paying passengers in the cabin. This is very irresponsible and totally broke the conduct of being a professional aviator.

Singapore Girl gets a makeover

The Singapore Girl has junked her bright blue eyeshadow for a more subtle and modern look.

She is still immaculate in her body-hugging signature kebaya with her hair nicely done, but the colours on her face are less striking.

In her first major makeover in more than a decade, the iconic Singapore Airlines (SIA) Girl is sticking to blue, green, plum and brown eye make-up, and red lipstick to complement the colours of her kebaya.

But the tones and shades are more subtle than before and trendier, said the airline's head of cabin crew, Mr Marvin Tan. "When we embarked on this project with our long-time grooming partner Lancome, we took into account feedback from some customers that the previous colours seemed to be on the strong side," he told The Straits Times last week.

It is not just about shades and hues, but application and blending techniques as well, in projecting the more "contemporary" look, added Lancome's spokesman, Ms Jamie Ong.

Freelance make-up artist Dollei Seah believes that SIA is taking the right step. "Wearing a blue outfit with blue make-up is very 80s. You can keep the blue but it should not be too much and it should be blended with other shades to create a more natural look."

For the last two months, the stewardesses have been taught to create the new look for themselves - part of a grooming road show to reiterate the importance of looking and feeling good, said Mr Tan.

There is also a new crew lounge at SIA's control centre at Changi Airport Terminal 3 for last-minute touch-ups before a flight.

To fly high in a tough business, SIA has invested in both hardware and heartware.

Last August, for example, it announced plans for a major cabin, seat and in-flight entertainment overhaul. The new products will be rolled out on new planes from the second half of this year.

Good service is equally important, said Mr Tan. "If you ask people what is the first thing that comes to mind when they think of SIA, the answer is usually our cabin crew. The kebaya comes to mind, the service culture comes to mind," he said.

Maintaining an edge over rivals like Emirates and Cathay, which are also continuously investing in improvements, is more of a challenge today than before, said industry experts.

To emulate the grace and service culture of the SIA Girl, carriers like Jet Airways have also hired former SIA trainers.

SIA, which runs one of the longest cabin crew training programmes in the industry at 15 weeks, will stay focused on what it needs to do, said Mr Tan.

On comments made by some travellers that service levels have slipped and are inconsistent, he said: "This is a challenge for any organisation that continues to grow and we will keep working at this."

It is also important to drive bonding and camaraderie among an increasingly diverse pool of crew members, he added.

SIA has about 7,800 cabin crew and seven in 10 of them are Singaporeans. The rest are from Malaysia and other countries, including China, Japan, India and Thailand.

Mr Tan said: "Everyone has an opinion on SIA service and our cabin crew. People want to give feedback and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

"Our crew work very hard and do us a lot of credit but we also know we have to keep working and improving."

Businessman Alex Wong, 53, said: "I'm glad the SIA Girl is moving towards a softer look. I do think some of them are too heavily made up, especially when compared with girls from other carriers."

SOURCE

It's about time they make changes to the make-up. They're seriously too strong and make the girls look like they're going for some kind of opera performance.

Life of a flight attendant (Part 3): Vanessa's story of debt, pain and emptiness

 SQ stewardess Vanessa (not her real name) is only 29 but she has over ten credit cards and is more than $30,000 in debt. Despite her growing credit card bills, she continues to live in style, driving a European sports car and owning a wardrobe full of expensive branded bags and clothing, most with their price tags still on.

Her extravagant behaviour is far from uncommon in the industry she works in – in fact, she said, most of her colleagues lead the same lifestyle. Young, beautiful, well-paid and jet-setting, their motto is to “live in the now” – and spend far more than they earn.

In Vanessa’s case, however, she might have bitten off more than she can chew: she has accumulated so much debt that she currently only pays the interest on her credit cards to keep the banks at bay.

“I know I’m in trouble, but I don’t know how to get out of it. Maybe I’ll sell some of my bags to pay it off. But I can’t sell my car, I’ll make a big loss,” said the petite, pixie-faced young woman during a recent three-hour interview with Yahoo! Singapore.

Vanessa started working as a flight attendant after graduating from a private university here about five years ago and was instantly swept up by the free-spending behaviour of her fellow flight attendants.

“I started off buying one branded bag per long haul trip, which works out to maybe two or three bags or S$4,000 a month for luxury brands like Miu Miu and Prada. Within half a year, I "graduated" to even more high-end brands like Chanel and Hermes and was spending about $7,000 a month on my bags,” said Vanessa, who cringed when she said the amounts out loud.

While she declined to comment on how much she earned a month, she said that it was "at least" $6,000 on average.

Out of this sum, $2,500 a month goes to paying for her car, which she admitted she hardly uses because she is seldom in town, and everything else goes to either shopping or paying part of her debt.

“Of course, I feel very stupid. I drive an expensive car, carry an expensive bag to meet my friends, but I always leave before meal times to go home and eat plain bread because I can’t afford to eat at a restaurant like them. I have no savings at all. In fact, my balance has been negative since I started to work,” said Vanessa.

However, instead of turning her life around and adopting a lifestyle change to clear her debts, Vanessa said she has no intention nor determination to give up her so-called “high life”.

“My colleagues and I have an inside joke. We all owe quite a lot of money, and we always say – all we have to do is a “Jamie Cuaca” and we’ll be secure for the rest of our lives,” said Vanessa.

The ex-Mrs Jamie Cuaca, now Jamie Chua, is a former SQ girl-turned-socialite who married Indonesian tycoon Nurdian Cuaca after the pair met when the latter flew in Business Class. Their acrimonious divorce saw demands from Chua for maintenance of $500,000 a month, and she is famous for owning more ultra-expensive Hermes Birkin bags than celebrity Victoria Beckham.

“I feel that the only way I can stop my crazy spending is to quit my job so that I don’t feel the pressure of keeping up appearance(s). But the money is too good – and I’ve been doing this for five years, I can’t imagine working in any other job,” said Vanessa.

Poor health

Her bank account isn’t the only thing that has suffered from her choice of career. According to Vanessa and her colleague, who wanted to be known only as Min, female flight crew suffer from a range of occupational hazards which include hair loss, headaches, and tired legs with cracked heels.

“Those of us with long hair need to keep it tightly pinned and in a bun that we secure with lots of hairspray. The hairstyle is very heavy and a lot of us get bad headaches as a result. The hairspray also damages our roots and hair quality… leading to hair loss,” said Vanessa.

Their skin condition also deteriorates due to the extremely dry inflight cabin air, while cracked heels and varicose veins come from standing on their feet for hours on end with hardly any rest.

“It’s a job that you can only do when you’re young, because unless you take very good care of yourself, your body will not be able to handle the pressure of flying non-stop,” said Min, 28, who cut her hair to chin length after pinning up her long locks gave her bouts of migraine every month.

Severe dry-eye syndrome, fatigue and weight-gain are other common problems that flight crew face because of harsh cabin conditions and irregular meal and sleeping times.

“There is a permanent feeling of confusion. I always wake up not very sure about where I am, and I don’t think it’s good for my mental health either to always feel a bit lost,” said Min.

Weight gain is also a permanent pre-occupation for flight crew, who are under pressure to stay svelte and slim in their uniforms. SQ’s iconic kebayas, in particular, are unforgiving on less-than-perfect hourglass figures.

“A lot of girls take weight-loss supplements bought overseas but banned here to lose weight. It’s not like we have time to go to the gym regularly. Although nobody will say you are getting fat or your uniform is bulging, we are all very aware of the need to look good. It’s our livelihood,” said Min.

Difficulty settling down

Both Vanessa and Min said they have not been in a stable relationship since they started working because their boyfriends could not accept their long absences or trust them when they were overseas. They also said their ex-boyfriends felt extra pressure after seeing how high-maintenance they had become, putting a serious strain on their relationships.

“In the end, we date other stewards because it’s convenient, but because we know all about how easy it is for flight crew to cheat, it becomes our turn to get suspicious,” said Vanessa.

While many flight crew live on the same extravagant terms as Vanessa and Min, there are others on the opposite end of the spending scale – scrimping and saving for something bigger, especially education.

“I feel very tempted to splurge when I’m on long-haul trips to Europe, but I control myself by leaving my credit cards at home and only carry small amounts of cash with me,” said steward James, 27, who joined Qantas to pay off his university loans.

After two years, James has already stowed away enough to pay off his loans, and more. He intends to use the excess to buy an engagement ring for his long-time girlfriend, with whom he has already applied for a flat.

“It’s very easy to lose focus of what you want with all the hard partying and peer pressure from colleagues but I stuck to my goal. For me, flying is not a career. It’s given me a chance to explore the world for two years, earn more than decent money to pay off my loans and not be a burden to my parents,” he said.

“I am starting off my ‘real life’ a bit later than my other friends whose parents paid for their university education, but it is good to be debt-free.” 

SOURCE

Life of a flight attendant (Part 2): Dealing with passengers from hell

Serving demanding customers in a restaurant can be nasty business. But up in the air, it can be many times worse.

Cranky passengers and crying children cramped into limited space for hours miles in the air make for one of the most pressurizing (pun intended) working environments in any service industry.

“There’s a 50/50 chance of a flight being smooth or a complete nightmare. The stress can be incredibly high – and there’s no escape. You’re in a plane. You can’t leave and take a smoke or walk to the back of a restaurant for some fresh air. You take a minute to calm yourself in the tiny crew galley and then it’s back to work to face those annoyed, uncomfortable and angry passengers,” summed up Qantas steward Rick, 36.

In his almost decade long career as a flight steward, Rick has done everything from warming up milk in an ice bucket while balancing a screaming baby on his hip, to chasing couples hoping to join the mile-high club out of plane toilets.

“It’s a skill like no other. I tell my friends, I can handle anybody and anything now. And with a smile,” laughed the Singapore-born steward who is now an Australian citizen.

Unlike Rick, however, most of the other 14 flight crew Yahoo! spoke to said they often struggled with keeping their smile – and cool – when confronted with nightmare passengers and filthy, clogged toilets which stink up the entire plane.

Treated like slaves

The poor treatment starts right from the get go – with fussy passengers demanding to have their seats switched or shoving hand-carry luggage at flight crew expecting to be helped with stowing it away.

“If I see a young lady or elderly person struggling with pushing their luggage into the overhead compartments, of course I will help. But so many times rude passengers just dump their luggage on my arms and then sit down after telling me to ‘help me keep this’. I tell them politely they are supposed to do it themselves, but still help with it anyway,” said SQ stewardess Karen, 31, who added that many even roll their luggage over the feet of cabin crew in their haste to get to their seats.

She has also had passengers asking for their seats to be switched because they don’t like the person they’ve been placed next to, feel that their seats are uncomfortable, or, incredibly, want to have empty seats next to them so they can take a two or three seat nap across the row.

“If it’s a child or someone who is genuinely uncomfortable and the flight is not full, we always oblige,” said Karen.

“Sometimes we can’t because there aren’t enough seats, and they are being unreasonable. Some are just trying their luck, but we’ve had people who shouted until their saliva hits our faces and then threaten to complain to management.”

In these cases, Karen simply escalates the matter to the lead flight crew and continues about her business.

The rudeness usually continues on through the flight, with passengers simply reaching out to tug on the flight crew’s uniforms as they move up and down the aisle. Certain Asian passengers, for example, are commonly known for being blatantly disrespectful to stewardesses.

“These men just yank at my skirt when I am distributing snacks or drinks. Once they pulled so hard at my colleague’s skirt she nearly fell down, and they laughed,” said Korean Air stewardess Jenny, 27.

Her colleague was so humiliated that she started to cry once she reached the back of the plane.

Jenny said that she has also been pinched on her arm by persistent passengers and some even try to walk up to the meal trolley to demand a tray because they cannot wait their turn, and others who treat her uniform like a napkin, wiping their dirty hands on her skirt as she walks past.

Meal-times are another trial for flight crew, as they are inundated with demands for extra meals, different food and drinks while cleaning up the mess made by clumsier passengers or children.

“The most common issue we deal with are people who do not inform us beforehand that they need a vegetarian meal, and then get upset when we don’t have enough to go around. We only pack a limited number of vegetarian meals. Some of these passengers aren’t even vegetarians – I’ve seen many who finish the regular meal and demand a second vegetarian one,” said Emirates stewardess Shikin, 26.

Those who ask for second rounds and it’s likely that a crew member has to give up his or her meal for you as catering only allows for a limited number of meals to be brought on board to avoid wastage and save space.)

“So many times we’ve given up eating ourselves so a passenger can have an extra portion – but I have only been thanked once,” said Shikin ruefully.

Drunken, rowdy passengers

All flight crew are unanimous when it comes to their passenger from hell – The Rowdy Drunk. Usually male, middle-aged and travelling alone, they are the most difficult to handle and agitate the entire plane of passengers with their antics.

“I can tahan (tolerate) the sleepy drunks. At most, they vomit and then fall asleep. But the ones who start disturbing other passengers and crew are the worse,” said SQ steward Frank, 32.

Flight crew are given instructions on how to prevent the passenger from getting drunk in the first place: once they notice a passenger has been drinking, they mix weaker drinks or try to offer them other beverages instead. However, this method does not work on most, who are already determined to drink as much as possible.

“They get angry and ask why I’m adding less alcohol and more mixer. Then they demand to have three miniatures (small alcohol bottles). It’s really tough to stay polite and helpful but firm,” said Frank.

Things get ugly quickly – many drunk passengers start to slur and use rude languages to harass flight crew who deny them more alcohol, or vomit on themselves and their neighbours, creating a scene and disturbing their fellow passengers.

Frank said that in worst case scenarios, if the passenger starts getting violent or verbally abusive, the crew leads him or her away to the back of the plane, where they try to isolate and sober up the person up. If they can’t control him, plastic flexi-cuffs are used to attach the passenger to male crew members, who stay with him for the rest of the journey until the plane touches down.

“I have had to accompany one drunk passenger who puked on himself, puked on me and all over the seat. It was the worst flight ever. I felt like throwing up too and let’s just say he threw up 2 hours into a 7-hour journey,” said Frank, his expression full of disgust.

Ex-steward Donald Yeo, 46, recounts a horror situation when a drunk South Asian passenger started arguing with passengers and crew and using derogatory terms on the stewardesses. He refused help to go to the toilet, and on his way down the aisle, fell flat on his face, losing two teeth.

“Wow, that moment was just great. Of course, we couldn’t show it on our faces, but it felt really good. I didn’t even mind cleaning up his vomit after that,” said Yeo.

Filthy toilets

Second on their list of pet peeves are filthy toilets, especially on long haul flights. All it takes, they say, is one inconsiderate passenger for the mess to get out of control.

“It can get absolutely gross, worse than a public toilet,” said Karen, describing occasions when she found faeces on the floor or on top of the toilet seat, dirty baby diapers overflowing from the trash bin, and a wash basin clogged with spat-up food.

“We do our best to clean it up, but often we have to shut the toilet, which is a lose-lose situation because the other toilets get overused and equally dirty.”

The other flight crew have had their share of stomach-curdling moments. One reached into the front pouch of a seat to get a vomit bag for an ill passenger, only to pull out a hand coated in phlegm – the passenger had earlier spat into the bag. Another was given a used blanket by a First Class Passenger only to find a mess of baby faeces and urine when it was opened.

“Glamour? What glamour? There is no glamour in cleaning toilets,” said Rick with a laugh.

“When you think about what we have to put up with on flights, you won’t think that our salaries are that fantastic. We’re often so exhausted after long flights we sleep away our recreational time, and by the time we’re rested, it’s time to meet our next plane load of passengers.”

SOURCE

Is being a flight attendant all that glamorous?

What’s life really like behind the bright smiles, perfect uniforms and five-star hotel stays of jet-setting flight attendants?  In a three-part series on the inflight service industry, Yahoo! Singapore finds out that it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. In the first part of this series, we explain how the initial attraction and glamour attached to the job can be quickly replaced by travel fatigue and loneliness. (For the purposes of this series, only first names have been used as most flight crew are bound by confidentiality agreements)

A glamorous life in the skies, jet-setting to exotic cities like Tokyo, London and Paris --  and being paid (very well) to do it.

To many, the perfectly coiffed and immaculate airline crew have it all – striding confidently and elegantly through international airports and being able to picnic at the Eiffel Tower one week and then be on safari in South Africa the next, all the while staying in five-star luxury hotels.

But ask the flight stewards and stewardesses themselves and you get a very different picture.

“Supermodels in uniform? Most of the time, we feel like waitresses – just further above ground,” scoffs a senior stewardess Vanessa K, 34, who flies with a well-known Hong Kong carrier.

She isn’t the only flight crew to feel this way. All 15 air stewards and stewardesses from various airlines Yahoo! Singapore spoke to expressed similar sentiments: that when the novelty of flying wears thin and the trips get longer, the shiny veneer of glamour and excitement disappears  quickly to be replaced with loneliness and homesickness.

Add to that the recent allowance and hiring cutbacks facing the airline industry due to stiff competition from budget carriers and an increasing number of flight crew are ditching their jobs to find stability back home and on land.

Honeymoon first year

The first two years of a flight attendant’s career are apparently the happiest years.

“When you first join, it really feels like the best job in the world – everyone envies you,” said Singapore Airlines girl Marie T, 26, who has been a stewardess for nearly five years.

“Firstly, the pay is really good. For SQ, we can easily hit S$4,500 a month with allowances. Secondly, we get to travel the world without paying a single cent. All your colleagues are outgoing and good looking – it feels like you’re perpetually on holiday.”

For Marie, who only had ‘O’ level qualifications, a salary of S$4,500 was far more than what her peers were earning. She had previously worked part-time jobs doing sales and administrative work for less than half of her current pay.

“My spending power increased so fast, I could treat my parents and friends to good meals and talk about my trips to places like Rome, New York, Tokyo. If I was not an SQ girl, I definitely would not have the money to go to these places. I was really on a high for the first two years,” said Marie, who, before becoming a stewardess, had only travelled as far as Hong Kong.

Within two months, she had bought her first S$3,000 branded bag, expensive gifts for her parents, and splurged on hundreds of dollars’ of skincare and makeup for herself.

“The lure is really easy money. You don’t have to work 9-5, and when you’re on your days off, you’re really off – you don’t bring your work home. On top of that, the pay is good, and if you’re single, it’s super fun to hang out with pretty girls and travel all the time,” said Emirates steward Daniel, 29, who left his S$2,600 job as an accountant to take to the skies.

“You meet all these new and enthusiastic people on every flight and you party with them, hang out footloose and fancy free in a foreign country. It’s an exciting life that a normal desk-bound paper pusher would never get to experience.”

Travel fatigue

Two years in is when most flight crew start finding their job to be more a burden than a joy. Those who are married or in relationships start feeling the strain of being away from loved ones, while others find it hard to maintain friendships or find a potential spouse with their irregular work schedules.

“In the beginning, I’d immediately leave the hotel room to explore the country I was in but after two years, I just wanted to stay in my room and Skype with my fiance, or order room service and watch a DVD. Traveling got more and more tiring each time, and I feel like my face has aged six, seven years in just two years because of all that flying,” said ex-stewardess Jasmine Yeo, 34, who left her Hong Kong-based airline employer to get married and start a family three years ago.

“It is the worst when we are away during festive seasons like Christmas and Chinese New Year. I’ve seen many stewardesses crying in their hotel rooms because they can’t make it back for reunion dinner or a good friends’ wedding. Travelling is fun, but after a while I keep wishing I had my loved ones with me enjoying all these beautiful places. The feeling is really empty.”

“In the beginning, it’s fun, and you tell yourself you don’t mind not being there for New Year. But three years in, when you’re alone in your hotel room with only your lap top and you see your family on your webcam enjoying steamboat and going visiting together, it can get really hard. It doesn’t seem worth it to miss all these moments,” said Daniel.

Alcohol-fuelled parties – once an attraction to newly ‘graduated’ flight crew --  become tiresome for those who are married or attached and want to stay faithful. Most end up staying in their rooms alone to recuperate from their long hours on the plane.

Broken relationships, affairs

This loneliness is what leads many flight crew to resort to short-term flings or affairs when they are at work. All 15 this reporter spoke to said that they had been propositioned by fellow stewards or stewardesses before and that sleeping around was fairly common, especially among the younger crew.

“In general crew members are very friendly and flirty with each other – we like to keep things light-hearted when we are working because the pressure of handling a plane full of uncomfortable and demanding passengers can get to us,” said Qantas steward Jonathan, 35.

“If we’ve got chemistry working together on the flight, we usually hang out after we touchdown – if both parties are single and willing, sometimes one thing leads to another. No strings attached, of course. It’s an unspoken rule.”

Not all obey this rule, however, and Cathay Pacific stewardess Y.L Tung, 28, told Yahoo! that she has seen cases where flings or affairs turn ugly.

“The most common scenario is when an amorous steward on board who approaches all the hostesses – both single and attached. Some of them don’t get the message and overstep their boundaries. One time, I saw a steward being thrown out of a hotel room by an angry colleague who was not interested. He was only wearing his boxers. We had a good laugh,” she said in Mandarin.

But, she adds a little sadly, “we are all quite lonely for home and most of us have a tough time maintaining relationships”.

Some common pick-up methods used by male flight crew include invitations to “watch a show in my room together” or a lot of “accidental” body contact in the crowded flight cabins.

Lower pay, poor job prospects

Earlier this month, it was reported that Singapore Airlines would be adjusting its flight allowances according to new exchange rates – cutting the allowances received for working on flights to Europe and America by as much as 20 per cent.

The change would severely impact the salaries of many of their flight crew, who draw low basic salaries of about $2,000 and rely on their travel allowances to support their lifestyles.

For flight crew with other work experience and higher education, the immediate response has been to quickly start looking elsewhere for employment – a trend that has resulted in a steadily growing turnover rate among airline crew all over the world.

“It’s quite simple – if I leave now, I can start over without feeling the pinch as much. If I stay another three-four years and then leave, starting from scratch with no relevant experience will put me in a very lousy position. I am just cutting my losses,” said SIA steward Lionel, 25, who joined after he graduated last August but is thinking of quitting once his first six months are up.

Then there are those without the option of a equally well-paid career on the ground.

“I’m worried about the cuts, of course. It affected morale among us quite badly,” said Marie, who said she had considered leaving Singapore Airlines but felt that she would not be able to make as much money elsewhere.

“I only have ‘O’ levels. If I quit and work somewhere else, my pay will be less than half. I have monthly installments to pay on my credit cards. I cannot afford to quit,” she said bluntly.

“Even my parents don’t want me to quit. However, if I could turn back time, I would have just continued studying and getting a degree. My thinking was too short-term and now I am stuck.”

In Part 2 of our series on the inflight service industry, flight attendants tell Yahoo! Singapore what it’s like dealing with nightmare passengers.

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Interesting article which pretty much summarizes the life as a cabin crew, though there is still a second part of the article yet to be publish, so stay tuned for it. Well, many will think that it's a great job. It is, but only for a short period of time of let's say two years as mentioned above. The lure is there, the dream to travel the world is inevitable, the money is good and it probably is a job that requires less brain juice as compared to some other mainstream jobs on the ground.

The advice is to go into the job with your eyes fully open and not in your dreamy state. More will come in Part 2.

Former SIA cabin crew to pay back allowances

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has clarified that cabin crew who left the company after Dec 3 last year would still have to pay back part of their meal allowances to the carrier, while back payments would be made where necessary.

On Monday, TODAY reported that some SIA crew members had been unhappy about changes to their location meal allowances due to the strong Singapore dollar and hotel menu price changes in different regions.

As the new allowances were finalised only after their effective period and an interim allowance had been paid out in the meantime, this meant that some crew would have deductions made to their salaries to reflect the adjusted allowance, while others would receive back payments.

According to crew members, location meal allowances for regions such as Europe and America have decreased by about 20 per cent. In contrast, allowances for Asian countries such as China and India rose by 25 per cent.

While SIA had previously said that crew who have left the company would not have to pay back the airline, or receive back payments, it yesterday qualified that this only applies to crew who have left before a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the airline unions on Dec 3 last year.

Said its spokesperson: “We are not seeking recovery or making back payments for crew who have left the company. This applies to staff whose last day of service is before 3 December 2012, when the Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the union. For those whose last day of service is on or after 3 December, there will be deductions or back payments.”

SOURCE

Apparently SIA is not letting off those who left the company on 3rd December 2012 and after. They will still have to make paybacks to the company. What I'm curious is how is SIA going to do that? And what if the ex-crew fails to do so, what action would the company take?

SIA cabin crew unhappy with allowance changes

A strong Singapore dollar and protracted negotiations between Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its staff union have caused unhappiness among some cabin crew, who have to pay back a significant portion of their location meal allowances.

These allowances are pegged to currency exchange rates and hotel menu prices in different regions. They are adjusted every two years to take into account changes in menu prices and every six months for currency exchange rate movements.

In a circular sent to SIA cabin crew last month, the carrier noted that there had been concerns about how the allowances were calculated.

It explained that the cut in meal allowances between July and December last year was based on hotel menu prices in different regions and currency exchange rates.

Allowances for January to June this year will be adjusted based on exchange rates alone.

While allowances are usually negotiated and agreed upon by the company and airline unions before the effective dates, negotiations last year did not conclude in time. As a result, cabin crew were paid an interim allowance from July to November last year, based on the previous rate.

With the agreement signed on Nov 20, the carrier said it would be making deductions and payments to salaries of cabin crew members, as a “retroactive adjustment” for the allowances already paid out from July to November.

The adjustments would also apply to technical crew, namely pilots.

“I assure you that the adjustment is not a ‘pay cut’ but is made necessary because of the delay in arriving at an agreement on the new rates,” said Mr William Koh, SIA’s Divisional Vice-President for Cabin Crew in the circular to staff.

According to SIA cabin crew TODAY spoke to, the allowances received for working on flights to European countries and the Americas were the hardest hit by the adjustment — by as much as 20 per cent. For example, the allowance for a five-day trip to London used to be about S$900 but has now decreased to about S$650.

Meanwhile, allowances for Asian countries such as China and India have been adjusted upwards by an average of 25 per cent.

The last time cabin crew members had to return a portion of their allowances was in 2004.

A 24-year-old flight stewardess who gave her name as Anastasia said: “They are affecting our morale yet they still expect us to give our best.”

Added a flight steward who wanted only to be known as Mr Lim, 30: “The fact that they did not take inflation into view, I feel that it’s poor judgment and the timing was just bad. They have not increased location meal allowances for a long time — in the five years I have been with the airline, they’ve already adjusted (allowances) downwards three times.”

Those who have left the company would not have to pay the company back, nor will they receive any back payments, said SIA spokesman Nicholas Ionides.

When contacted, SIA Staff Union Chairman Tony Sim said that the union — which represents more than 7,000 cabin crew — will be meeting with them to clarify that the adjustments do not mean a pay cut.

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After fixing the pilots, SIA turn their attention to the cabin crew, the very people they depend their image on; The Singapore Girl. Nobody likes it when their allowances get cut, and if it is true that a London flight allowance have been cut from S$900 to S$650, the crew must be really infuriated.

But SIA as it is, is still a company many would love to work for. For those who think their allowances is not good enough, they can always seek alternatives in other airlines like Emirates and Qater Airways. There is definitely no lack of replacements judging by the throng of people who goes for the walk-in interviews every other month.

Cathay asks crew to volunteer for early retirement

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific on Tuesday asked its cabin crew to volunteer for early retirement as part of its cost-cutting measures to boost profitability amid a global slowdown.

Cathay has been trying to trim costs after it fell into the red in the first half of 2012 with a HK$935 million ($121 million) loss, partly due to high fuel prices that have also dragged down other regional airlines' performance.

The airline said the scheme would be offered to flight attendants who joined the firm before September 1996, to cut cost as well as to help facilitate recruitment and promotion opportunities.

"It is also part of the airline's cost management measures," a spokeswoman said in a statement to AFP, adding that the airline has not set any target on the number of flight attendants that it hopes would sign up for the scheme.

The carrier has around 9,000 cabin crew members, who serve 170 routes in 42 countries and are among over 20,000 staff the airline employs worldwide. It did not say what number of crew members is eligible for the scheme.

Cathay averted an industrial action by its crews -- which had threatened to stop serving alcohol and smiling at passengers -- over the Christmas holidays last month after it agreed to improve their working conditions.

The protest was sparked by Cathay's bid to give a two percent pay rise to its employees this year, on top of a discretionary one-month bonus for 2012, falling short of the flight attendants union's demand.

Singapore Airlines, one of Cathay's rivals, earlier this month asked its captains to volunteer for unpaid leave after it posted a 69-percent plunge in profit in the carrier's financial year ending March 2012.

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SIA targets its pilots, Cathay asks its cabin crew to retire early, read: never come back. It is really bad times for the big airlines due to the ever rising fuel costs.

SIA to recruit & train intern cabin crew from polys

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is working closely with three polytechnics to recruit and train cabin crew, as part of efforts to attract the best talent.

It has special programmes with Nanyang Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic, covering recruitment activities.

It's also starting an internship-recruitment programme to hire and train selected students to become full-time cabin crew.

These are provided under Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) that the carrier signed with the three polytechnics on Thursday.

Besides recruitment, the MOUs also cover areas of potential cooperation such as curriculum development in service, operations, safety and security.

SIA will also work with the polytechnics on continued education programmes for cabin crew.

SIA employs about 7,500 cabin crew. New crew undergo an extensive 15-week training programme in areas such as service delivery, customer relations, deportment, security and safety.

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Wow wow wow, I believe those young girls in the polytechnics are sure running to the programme begging to be accepted as a cabin crew. If you're one of those students, take a step back and think carefully.

Speak to a cabin crew if you have the chance, understand the nature of the job, the pros and cons of it, what other options do you have after you decided to quit flying etc etc. Behind all that glamour of being a Singapore Girl is hard work. Not everyone is cut out for it.

You have to handle difficult passengers, fight jetlag, be away from family most of the time and during important occasions and the people you work with might not be the most desirable around. The pay is pretty good, but you earn for the amount of time you work. The more you fly, the more you earn, but the more tiring it gets. There are those who earn a lot but spend a lot as well due to the "high life" they lead.

Ok, I don't want to sound too negative haha. Just want to advise those who are interested to go in with both eyes opened. Good luck.