Uncertain Future for Singapore United Airlines Staff
JAKARTA, Sept 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The economic impact of the September 11th attack on New York and Washington is reeling its ugly head in Singapore where United Airlines announced on Thursday it will lay off 300 local staff.
The three hundred United Airlines staff in Singapore, joined by another 100 in Bangkok, are being laid off on Monday in the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks in the United States.
About 95% of the Singapore staff are cabin crew, while the rest are ground staff.
About 220 of the Singapore crew affected are represented by the Singapore Air Transport Workers' Union, which held a closed-door meeting with them yesterday afternoon.
High on the agenda was the negotiation of a severance package while sources say the crew will be paid their October salaries.
This is the first direct impact of the September tragedy in the region and experts say more may follow suit if the situation degrades in the U.S.
Financial experts in Kuala Lumpur stated they do not expect this kind of layoff by any American companies in Malaysia in the immediate future, but said they fear the backlash may be felt sooner or later.
Pressure by Indonesian Islamic groups in Indonesia may on the other hand aggravate the situation in the largest Muslim country where the U.S. has huge investments and thousands of Indonesian workers draw cheap salaries from U.S. companies.
U.S. interests in the region took a beating with a downward trend noted in U.S. investments due to the recession that hit America at the turn of the year 2001.
In Singapore, sources said it was uncertain if United Airlines will be able to meet its contractual termination payments in full because of the sharp decline in business that has hit all airlines hard.
A spokesman for United declined to reveal details but said in a statement: "We deeply regret that these actions must be taken.
"We appreciate the dedication and commitment that our regional flight attendants have shown."
The airline is cutting 20,000 employees from its workforce worldwide, a move that will affect 5,000 flight attendants.
It said in a statement that the terrorist attacks had driven away a significant number of passengers and that the company had plans to ground several of its jets in the coming days.
The news of the layoff in Singapore has shocked many workers who said it was a sudden decision. They did not expect this to happen to them at a time when Singapore itself is going through one of its worst recession in years.
Meanwhile, United said its daily flights from Singapore and Bangkok via Tokyo to the U.S. would continue as usual. American crews will man these flights.
