The coronavirus pandemic has seen many people take wage losses or even losing their jobs.

This is no different for those working for Singapore Airlines (SIA).

Around 2400 staff members were retrenched over a week ago.

And recently, it was also announced that all trainee pilots and cabin crew won’t be hired.

Those who remain, however, have to make some heavy sacrifices in order to keep their jobs.

Massive Pay Cut

According to Today Online, SIA pilots will be taking pay cuts after the union representing them agreed with their employers on a deal that could save about 400 jobs.

However, the pay cuts could range from 10 to 60 per cent of their original wage.

This agreement will take effect from 1 October and lasts until March 2022 and was informed to all pilots on 18 September.

It would also help preserve all domestic jobs for the allotted time.

SIA currently has around 2,600 pilots.

Pay Cut Per Person

There are a few variations to this pay cut.

Captains will see their salaries cut by 25 to 28.5 per cent, while first officers will receive a pay cut of 15 to 18.5 per cent depending on their wage.

Re-employed captain’s got hit the hardest, taking the biggest cut at 60 per cent.

This is inclusive of the 10 per cent monthly variable component (MVC) of their salaries.

They keep their jobs but the pay cuts are still extremely painful.

The current agreement will overwrite the previous one on 6 August, where pilots’ overall salaries were docked between 13 and 50 per cent.

Might Improve

Depending on how the coming times are, these cuts, hopefully, won’t be permanent.

Today Online noted that should the coronavirus pandemic improve, the pay cuts will be slowly restored.

This is also according to a scale based on the average flying hours of all SIA and SilkAir pilots.

“The association regrets that we were unable to prevent the retrenchment of some of our pilots. However, we will continue to offer assistance to our affected members in these difficult times,” an Air Line Pilots Association spokesman noted.

“We would like to sincerely thank all our members for the additional sacrifices taken to ensure all local jobs remain and for standing together for the future of our airline and Singapore.”

This sentiment was also shared by an SIA spokesperson.

Even if they pandemic slowly subsides, experts predict that air travel might only truly recover around 2024.

We wish the staff at SIA nothing but the best.

Read Also: SIA: All Trainee Pilots & Cabin Crew Won’t Be Hired; Half Already Let Go Of Immediately