Court Orders SIA to Pay A380 Pilots More

A Singapore court ordered SIA to pay pilots who will fly its new Airbus A380 superjumbos nearly S$700 a month more than its Boeing 747-400 pilots because the A380s are bigger and their pilots will be responsible for the lives of a greater number of people. SIA is due to receive tis first A380 in October. Credit: Airbus S.A.S. 2006/EXM Company/F ESPINASSE

SINGAPORE (AP) -- A Singapore court on Friday ordered Singapore Airlines to raise the salaries of pilots that will fly the Airbus A380 aircraft, the world's largest passenger jet.

The carrier's A380 captains will get 700 Singapore dollars (US$457; euro340) more a month than those currently flying the Boeing 747-400, the Industrial Arbitration Court ruled. The pilots had asked for S$1,000 more per month.

The Airline Pilots' Association had argued that the carrier's pilots should receive enhanced salaries and benefits when they begin flying the new superjumbo jet because it is a bigger plane and carries more passengers.

"Because there's no market salary, we just proposed that they give a captain S$1,000 more, and so the court has given us S$700 more and that's fine," the union's president Captain P. James told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

An A380 captain will now earn S$10,700 (US$6,998; euro5,203) a month, he said.

Singapore Airlines initially proposed to pay pilots of the A380 the same as pilots of the Boeing 777, and eventually to pay all pilots a common basic salary no matter the type of aircraft they fly, with differences based on productivity.

Singapore Airlines' spokesman Stephen Forshaw said that the court's ruling has ended the dispute.

"I think everyone's now wanting to focus on ... getting the A380 delivered and into service, and recognizing that it's going to be a superb aircraft, and the pilots are very keen to start flying it," he said.

Singapore Airlines will be the first carrier to fly the superjumbo when it takes delivery of its first 555-seat A380 in October, a year later than originally planned. Wiring problems in the double-decker jet will delay subsequent deliveries an average of two years.

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