SIA training programmes draw strong interest from companies

More than 50 organisations have expressed interest in SIA's training programmes launched last week which will see the national carrier's trainers work with companies to design courses and instruct their employees in areas such as customer service. SIA CE Goh Choon Phong provided the update Monday, as he laid out the group's business strategy after it reported nearly $3.5b in losses for the six months to September last Friday. He said the new training programmes were one of SIA's innovations to cope with the impact of the coronavirus on the airline. This, together with cost-cutting measures and other ventures to increase revenue, like the hugely popular A-380 dining experience that was quickly sold out recently, has enabled the airline to reduce its bleeding from a rate of about $350m a month in July to $300m now. Goh said: "We will continue to be very nimble and flexible to see what other opportunities the market may bring... The market is very dynamic at the moment." The losses suffered in the six months to September have been primarily attributed to the massive fall in passenger numbers since Covid-19 hit. The group was operating at about 9.5% of pre-Covid-19 passenger capacity last month, and hopes for it to return to 16% by the end of the year. It has relied on the transport of cargo to mitigate the fallout, even removing seats on planes to increase storage space on flights that are half-empty. Goh said he remained hopeful that with new Covid-19 quick-testing regimes, more passenger flights could take to the skies.<br/>