Singapore Airlines will reward tens of thousands of employees with a bonus worth nearly eight months of basic pay after the flag carrier posted a record profit of $2.8 billion for 2024.
The generous profit-sharing bonus is said to be worth 7.45 months of basic pay, which is slightly less than the 7.9 months’ worth of basic pay that the carrier paid as a bonus last year but slightly more than the 2023 bonus, which was worth 6.65 months of basic pay.
Singapore Airlines warned in its annual financial results: “The global airline industry faces a challenging operating environment amid changing tariff policies and trade tensions, economic and geopolitical uncertainties, and continued supply chain constraints.”
The bonus amount is calculated using a long-standing formula agreed upon with staff unions to reward employees when the airline turns a profit. In the last few years, Singapore Airlines has consistently been making big profits.
The record-breaking $2.8 billion profit posted for 2024 was, however, bumped up by a one-off non-cash accounting gain of $1.1 billion following the merger between Air India and Vistara (Singapore Airlines had a big stake in Vistara and continues to be a shareholder in Air India).
If you don’t include this one-off payment, Singapore Airlines made an operating profit of $1.7 billion, which is down $300 million on the profit the carrier posted in for the full year 2023.
Singapore Airlines blamed lower yields (how much profit the airline makes per passenger) and increased competition across its core Asia markets. Those losses were, however, partially offset by record passenger numbers.
The carrier warned of a “challenging operating environment,” citing global tariff policies, as well as economic and geopolitical uncertainties as having a negative effect on demand.
“These factors may impact consumer and business confidence, potentially affecting both passenger and cargo markets,” the airline noted in its annual financial results published on Thursday.
How does this compare to other airlines?
As far as profit-sharing bonuses go, Singapore Airlines has by far the most generous scheme in the aviation industry, and the only airline that comes close is the Dubai-based Emirates, which announced last week that its employees would receive a bonus worth 22 weeks of basic pay (nearly six months of pay).
The key difference, however, is that there are no hard and fast rules that outline how much Emirates is going to pay employees in profit-sharing. It is entirely down to the discretion of the government-owned carrier’s bosses, and no formula exists to calculate this amount.
By the standards of other international carriers, it’s hard not to be impressed by Emirates’ latest profit-sharing bonus. As a point of comparison, British Airways introduced a profit-sharing bonus scheme for cabin crew for the first time ever earlier this year, and the maximum payout amount is set at just 4% of basic wages.
This is a similar kind of payout that is offered by many US-based carriers, including the likes of American Airlines and United.
