SINGAPORE – Aviation workers can look forward to better wages and work prospects within the next 12 to 24 months, as the sector picks up momentum, buoyed by the easing of global travel curbs that sought to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) secretary-general Ng Chee Meng expressed his hopes for the rebound of the hard-hit sector to continue during a May Day appreciation event for aviation workers organised by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on Saturday (May 7).
Mr Ng’s comments come as employers in the sector, together with the CAAS and employee unions, are pulling out all the stops to ramp up manpower to support the increase in air passenger traffic in the coming months.
This includes a job fair on May 27 and 28, which will see over 20 participating aviation companies engage job seekers and students on a range of job opportunities ranging from service, operations and engineering to new careers in technology and sustainability, said the CAAS in a statement after the event.
Speaking to the media at the sidelines of the appreciation event, which was held at a canteen for aviation workers located in Changi Airport, Mr Ng said he was glad that flights have begun to come in with increasing frequency, after a tumultuous two years.
He also said aviation workers now face a “happy problem” arising from the recovery, as they are “somewhat stretched and overworked” amid a labour shortage, which he estimated would take the sector three to six more months to recover from.
Added Mr Ng: “(When) we welcome the return of workers, I think we will have better opportunities for better businesses, and I think the aviation outlook will be so much brighter.” Read more