Aviation Workers Recognised for Supporting Air Hub's Recovery

CAAS invites Singaporeans to join aviation sector to help rebuild the Air Hub          Government, corporate and union leaders of the Singapore aviation sector gathered today at a Changi Airport airside café where workers typically take their breaks to thank them for helping the sector tide over the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting a strong recovery.

2        Over the last two years, aviation frontliners have worked under highly challenging conditions to keep the Singapore air hub open while safeguarding public health. They had to overcome fears about COVID-19 and uncertainty about the future of aviation when air passenger volume was at 3% of pre-COVID levels for more than 18 months till Singapore started launching Vaccinated Travel Lanes in August 2021. With the reopening of Singapore’s borders to all vaccinated travellers from 1 April 2022, the Singapore air hub has rebounded strongly, with air passenger volume more than doubling from 18% of pre-COVID levels in March 2022 to close to 40% in end-April 2022. Aviation workers play an instrumental role in the ramping up of airport operations and providing a smooth and seamless travel experience that is the hallmark of Changi.  

3        The OneAviation May Day appreciation event organised by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) was attended by NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng, Senior Minister of State for Transport & NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Chee Hong Tat, CAAS Chairman Edmund Cheng and the chief executives of Changi Airport Group, dnata, SATS and SIA Engineering Company.

4        The CAAS and Friends for Aviation are providing 3,000 meals and 3,000 goodie bags this week to thank aviation workers for working during the May Day-Hari Raya Puasa long weekend to support the rise in traffic. Formed in June 2021 by a group of 70 CAAS officers, Friends for Aviation has initiated various ground-up initiatives to support and encourage aviation frontliners through the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2021, it gave out $50 EZ-link cards to 1,000 aviation frontliners, to encourage them when they had to cope with more stringent safe management measures following the May 2021 cluster of COVID-19 cases linked to the airport. 

5        The CAAS is working with the aviation companies and unions to ramp up manpower to support the increase in air passenger traffic in the coming months. The CAAS is organising a sector-wide careers promotion and recruitment event, titled “OneAviation Careers”, in partnership with e2i, NTUC and WSG, on 27 and 28 May 2022 at the Suntec City Convention Centre. The two-day event will include themed career talks showcasing the wide career offerings in the aviation sector. These include service, operations and engineering jobs as well as new careers in technology and sustainability. Over 20 aviation companies, including Singapore Airlines, SATS, dnata, Changi Airport Group and Rolls Royce will participate and engage job seekers and students on career opportunities. Job seekers will also be able to sign up for on-site interviews conducted by employers at the event.

6        Mr Han Kok Juan, Director-General of the CAAS said, “The ramp up in airport operations in the last one month to support the more than doubling in traffic volume growth is made possible only by the strong collaboration of the Singapore aviation community and the resilience and steadfastness of our aviation workers who take pride in Changi and want to see it soar again. As the Singapore aviation sector emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, there are tremendous career opportunities. We invite Singaporeans to join us to help rebuild Changi and reclaim Singapore’s position as an international air hub.”