New staff made a splash at a recent recruitment drive by Singapore Airlines.
Singapore’s flag carrier restarted cabin crew recruitment in Thailand, South Korea, and Taiwan, after a two-year freeze because of Covid-19 and the relaxation of travel restrictions.
The airline needs more Asian staff to meet higher demand now that travel restrictions in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan are easing. An airline spokesperson said…
“Singapore Airlines has traditionally recruited cabin crew from a wide range of locations to supplement our recruitment intake from Singapore.
“Our recruitment drives are to replace cabin crew who have left for a variety of reasons, as well as to meet the airline’s growth plans. The number of available vacancies varies from time to time, and is dependent on our manpower requirements.”
The airline stopped hiring during the pandemic and put most of its cabin crew on leave without pay until February earlier this year.
Some 1,200 cabin crew members have been hired or rehired and the airline wants to take in another 800 recruits.
The Straits Times joined the fun and frolics as a group of 20 new cabin crew trainees embarked on a 14-week basic training course. The menu included modules on food and drinks, deportment and safety evacuation – which involved the trainees leaping into the pool to recreate a scenario where the pilot has landed in the sea.
Once in the water, recruits swim backwards, practice paddling with one hand while dragging a person with another, and inflate life jackets with hairdryers.
To stay warm at sea, the trainees huddled up by linking their arms and legs, while making themselves smaller and minimising movement to conserve energy.
Singapore Airlines is not the only flag carrier stepping up its recruitment drive. Thai Airways (THAI) has made steady progress since embarking on a restructuring programme.
THAI received a much-needed boost last week when the Central Bankruptcy Court approved the airline’s request to overhaul its recovery plan.
Thailand’s national flag carrier was told by the court to carry on after most of its creditors backed the revised plan.