SIA needs bold innovations to ride out Covid-19 crisis. How about ‘flights to nowhere’?

In July, passenger carriage across the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group — which includes SIA, its regional arm SilkAir and budget airline Scoot — tumbled 98.6 per cent compared with a year ago.

Hammered by the Covid-19 pandemic, SIA has had to cut the salaries of its management team and employees. A sizeable number of staff are on unpaid leave.   

These are grim reminders that notwithstanding the gradual reopening of Singapore’s economy, certain industries — notably aviation, aerospace and tourism — will continue to suffer heavy losses.

Given that SIA is the national carrier and a well-known global brand, its success or failure is somewhat a bellwether for the Singapore Government’s paradigm of governance and social resilience. This includes its ability to reshape its priorities and political worldview in anticipation of a post-Covid-19 era, whenever that might be.

While government leaders have mostly eschewed short-term solutions in favour of long-term approaches, the reality is that no one can say with certainty what the long-term conditions — domestically, regionally or internationally — might be.

Therefore, there is a need to revisit SIA’s business raison d’etre, particularly whether it is financially sustainable to expect travel patterns to rebound to pre-Covid-19 days — even if a viable vaccine is found. 

Already, airlines worldwide have had to innovate and consider different ways of generating revenue to mitigate losses.

For instance, earlier this month, Taiwan’s Eva Air operated a special flight to nowhere to allow passengers the experience of flying. This also went towards ensuring its flight crew continued to clock the necessary mileage to preserve their skills.

While these special flights may not bring in significant revenue, they demonstrate the innovative character of the company, and more importantly, provide the much-needed international branding upon which airlines depend.

Other possibilities for SIA during this period include converting some of its aeroplanes into “aircraft restaurants” where customers can experience a partial SIA flight experience — whether on the ground or in the air. This could include dining and watching movies on board the aircraft.

This will challenge the present paradigm in which flying is seen as a fundamental means of getting from one place to another. With global travel restrictions, this may not be possible for some time.

SIA can also consider partnering educational institutions or even tourism agencies to organise behind-the-scenes visits of its aircraft and airport operations.

While these may not be the usual job scope of its crew, the imperative for SIA to innovate is clear.

If not now, then when?

As airlines continue to bear the brunt of the Covid-19 crisis, it is worthwhile to remember that in an industry in which “the sky is the limit”, there is always hope — no matter how dark the present days might be — if we are prepared to act.

Will SIA step up to the challenge?

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