Staff cuts are coming for Singapore Airlines (OTC: SINGF) with calendar Q2 "almost certain" to be a money-loser. This won't be a first for the carrier, but it's definitely rare. Since going public in 1985, SINGF has only had one quarterly loss until now. It took the SARS epidemic to put this company into the red for three months, back in 2003. According to four of the five analysts polled, there was little the company could do to avert the situation.

In a respectable move, the staff cuts are following that of the executive team, which has had 10% to 20% sliced from its salaries. An operating loss of $50 million or more for Q2 will cause staff paychecks to fall by at least 2.5%. SINGF is on the hook to cut 25% of the "monthly variable component" (MVC) that's included in staff salaries if the airline's loss pierces the $50 million threshold. MVC disappears in its entirety if the loss passes the $200 million mark. Currently, MVC accounts for only 10% of employees' total compensation.

Employees have already been chipping in to reduce the airline's costs. Pilots, for example, have sacrificed 65% of a day's pay every month, and employees in general are working shorter weeks.

But, this hasn't been enough.

Continue reading Singapore Airlines loss 'almost certain'

Singapore Airlines loss 'almost certain' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Singapore Airlines is one of the most successful carriers in the world. Because of the size of its home company, most of its flights are international. Several large U.S. airlines, including AMR (NYSE:AMR) and UAL (NASDAQ:UAUA) rely heavily on their overseas routes for large amounts of their profits. The yield-per-passenger is often better on flights going outside the U.S. than those within American borders.

Singapore Air is grounding a number of its planes as demand for international travel collapses. According to the AP, "The carrier said it will reduce capacity by 11 percent between April and March 2010 from the previous twelve months and decommission 17 aircraft after air cargo shipments fell 20 percent recently." Flying cargo is a separate profit center for a number of large airlines. As sales in that business drop, it compounds losses brought on by falling passenger travel.

Since Singapore Air's cuts are scheduled to go into 2010, the carrier clearly believes that there will not be a short-term rise in air travel.

U.S. carrier stocks have rebounded some from summer lows because of the drop in jet fuel prices. That should help their P&Ls. But if Singapore Air is a canary in the coal mine, the advantage of cheaper fuel may only help the industry so far.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

For U.S. carriers Singapore Air move may signal more trouble originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Airbus Superjumbo A380 delivered to Singapore Airlines, better late than never originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Oct 2007 11:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.