Covid 19 coronavirus: Singapore Airlines to cut jobs in New Zealand

Singapore Airlines jobs in New Zealand are at risk as part of the airline's decision to cut 4300 positions from across its group.

The airline has also suspended services to Wellington.

The airline is operating at about 8 per cent of its global network because of the pandemic, and South West Pacific regional vice president Philip Goh said up to 23 positions in New Zealand could go.

"After taking into account a recruitment freeze, natural attrition, and the take-up of voluntary departure schemes, the potential number of staff impacted will be reduced to about 2400 across Singapore and overseas stations."

It is understood the airline has nearly 80 staff in New Zealand. Some of the 23 positions to be axed are currently vacant.

"Our next steps will be to work through the proposal with staff to reduce our New Zealand structure by around 23 positions and ensure they are provided with the support they need," Goh said.

"This decision was taken in light of the long road to recovery for the global airline industry due to the debilitating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the urgent need for the group's airlines to adapt to an uncertain future."

Singapore Airlines has been flying to New Zealand for more than 40 years and Goh said this country would be a key part of its network when it emerged from the Covid crisis.
He said the decision to suspend services to Wellington was "extremely difficult".

It began services in 2016 with a Wellington-Canberra-Singapore flight and this was replaced 16 months later with a stopover in Melbourne.

"We will carefully review our plans going forward, and make adjustments to our network to meet the changing demand patterns. Should demand return to these markets, we will make an assessment at that time as to whether a return to Wellington is viable," Goh said.

The airline is flying limited services to Auckland and Singapore.The Singapore group expects to operate under 50 per cent of its capacity at the end of financial year 2020/21 versus pre-Covid levels.

Industry groups have also forecast that passenger traffic will not return to previous levels until around 2024.

Relative to most major airlines in the world, Singapore Airlines is in an even more vulnerable position as it does not have a domestic market that will be the first to see a recovery.

The group last year had about 16,500 people.