Singapore Airlines is to pay its employees a massive profit-sharing bonus worth nearly eight months of basic wages after the carrier reported its best-ever financial performance on the back of continuing ‘robust demand’ for air travel.
On Wednesday, the airline said employees would get a 32-week bonus, which is equal to around 7.9 months of basic wages. The bonus is calculated using a longstanding formula designed to reward employees when the airline is doing well.
And Singapore Airlines is certainly doing well. For the 2023-2024 financial year, the airline reported a US $2.0 billion profit based on revenue of S$19 billion – the biggest profit that Singapore Airlines has recorded in its 77 year history.
Last year, Singapore Airlines paid out a similarly massive profit-sharing bonus after workers received a bonus equivalent to 6.65 months’ pay, plus an additional ex-gratia bonus worth up to 1.5 months’ basic salary.
The additional payment was designed to recognise the “hard work and sacrifices” that workers made through the pandemic.
Singapore Airlines says that demand has ‘remained buoyant’ throughout the last financial year, helped by the full reopening of China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan. Demand was so strong that growth in passenger traffic of nearly 27% outstripped the airline’s capacity expansion of 22.9%.
Looking forward, the airline says that economic uncertainty has not shown any dent in people’s eagerness to travel, although the carrier may face pressure on passenger yields as rivals pump additional capacity into the Asia-Pacific region.
Singapore Airlines also says worldwide geopolitical tensions continue to be a cause for concern while rising inflation could dampen travel demand over the next year.
Earlier this week, Emirates also announced a massive profit-sharing bonus for its staff worth around five months of basic pay. The Dubai-based airline decided to reward its workers after it posted a second straight year of record profits.
