* Airlines involved include SIA, SIA Cargo, SilkAir
* Issues involving SilkAir have been resolved-report
(Adds company comments, background)
SINGAPORE, June 28 (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines (SIA)
and its pilots union are taking their salary dispute
to the country's Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC), the company
confirmed on Tuesday.
The dispute involves the parent airline, the world's
second-largest carrier by market value, and its subsidiaries,
SIA Cargo and regional carrier SilkAir.
"SIA, SilkAir and SIA Cargo have been in discussions with
their respective ALPA-S (union) branches regarding the annual
service increment. As the cases will be heard at the IAC, it
would not be appropriate for us to provide any further comment,"
SIA spokesman Nicholas Ionides said in an email to Reuters.
The hearing date for SIA Cargo has been set for July 8 and a
date in August set for the pilots of the parent airline, the
Straits Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.
However the newspaper said the issue involving SilkAir
pilots has been resolved after management and pilots struck a
deal following a meeting at the Manpower Ministry on Monday.
The president of the Airline Pilots Association of Singapore
(ALPA-S), P. James, confirmed that the issue involving SilkAir
pilots has been resolved and said he hoped a similar
out-of-court settlement could be reached for SIA and SIA Cargo.
SilkAir has agreed to raise the pay of its captains by
between S$340 ($273.73) and S$360 a month and by S$225 for first
officers. They will also receive a lump-sum payment for the
back-dated amount owed and their pay adjusted accordingly.
Airlines around the world have frozen salaries or cut pay,
cut headcounts and grounded aircraft to survive the global
financial crisis that started in 2008.
SIA narrowly avoided reporting its first ever full-year loss
for the 2009/2010 financial year. However its net profit
unexpectedly fell in the fourth quarter due to soaring jet fuel
prices and it warned of short-term weakness in its load
factor.
