If you ask global business travelers who their favorite airline is, you will probably notice that Singapore Airlines is among the most mentioned, if not the most. The carrier has an impressive awards list, ranging from 22 U.S. Condé Nast Traveller Awards for Best Global Carrier to Travel and Leisure’s World’s Best International Airline. Their wealth of awards makes Singapore, as they call themselves, “The World’s Most Awarded Airline.” How do they keep winning?
It is not their on-time performance or their small number of mishandled bags that warrants this prestige and recognition. No, it’s their top-quality service that sets them apart. Their brand is centered on the Singapore Girl, representing quality customer care and service. Flight crews and stewardesses are trained rigorously through a program that is highly selective. On-board, passengers are wined and dined as if they’re at a five star restaurant (and hotel). The airline’s seats, from economy class to their luxurious A380 suites, are among the best in the industry, but don’t take my word for it – check out their lengthy awards page.
Financial health and stability
How is the airline doing financially? Singapore’s brand and willingness to spend extra money on each passenger pays off. Yet despite what you might think, Singapore has managed to keep costs low, relative to their peers, giving them a decent sustainable competitive advantage. For their fiscal year, ended March 31, 2010, Singapore Airlines Limited (which includes subsidiary Silk Air) reported a net profit of $279.90 million, a steep fall from fiscal year 2008-2009, which profited Singapore Airlines $1,061.50 million. Nonetheless, the carrier has maintained profitability during challenging turbulent periods. According to Dr. Cheong Choong Kong, former CEO of Singapore Airlines, “Our passengers … are our raison d’être. If SIA is successful, it is largely because we have never allowed ourselves to forget that important fact.”
Source: Emerald Insight
Note: I could not find the graph, but if you compare low-cost carriers (Southwest, JetBlue, Air Asia, RyanAir, etc), legacy carriers (American, Air-France/KLM, Lufthansa, JAL, etc) and premium carriers (like Singapore Airlines, Emirates) by weighted average operating profit margin, low-cost carriers tend to have the highest percentages (positive). Premium carriers also report relatively high percentages, yet the losing carriers tend to be the legacy airlines, who tend to dip in and out of negative and positive percentages.
Fleet and recent Airbus A380 incidents
Fleet wise, Singapore Airlines flies a 100+ heavy aircraft, including the Boeing 747, 777, and Airbus A330/A340/A380 series. Notably, Singapore is the first airline to operate the mega-jumbo Airbus A380. However recently, the carrier has had to defend its selection of the airliner following two recent incidents (one of them being smoke detected in the lavatory).
You might recall awhile back, JetCheck was lucky enough to have Stephen Forshaw, formerly Singapore Airlines’s Vice President Public Affairs, to share his perspective on the A380.
On the routes where we are operating the A380, we are seeing load factors substantially higher than the network average. This is, in part, because the aircraft is deployed on routes where the capacity is needed and where additional capacity could not come by additional frequency due to slot and/or airport congestion. Singapore-London is the prime example. And while, in raw fuel consumption terms, the numbers may be higher for the A380, on a per seat mile basis, the aircraft is delivering substantial improvement in fuel efficiency over the older B747-400s.
I know there are arguments for choosing and not-choosing the Airbus A380, but Singapore appears to remain happy with their selection. “The A380 has had one of the smoothest introductions to our fleet compared to our previous experience of entry into service of new aircraft,” a Singapore Airlines representative said. Even more recently, the Qantas pilot who safely landed Qantas’s A380 after an engine failure recently declared the aircraft “absolutely” safe.
Singapore Airlines's Business Class in the Airbus A380 - Image via Wikipedia
Needless to say, every new airplane has its problems. Going back to Singapore’s choice of the A380, I will say that the cabin configurations, as well as the A380-only suites, make flying this airplane extremely attractive to long-haul customers.
Conclusion
Singapore Airlines prides itself in its history of firsts. From the launch customer of the Airbus A380 to their achievements in interior design and comfort, Singapore has a lot to live up to in the future. If the carrier continues providing innovative and top-class service, Singapore Airlines will undoubtedly build on their already impressive collection of Condé Nast and Travel and Leisure awards.
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
