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Singapore Airlines opens its staff training academy to third party customers
November 6th 2020
Singapore Airlines (SIA) said this week it would open its training facilities to outside customers, offering short courses in areas such as customer service, innovation and digital programs. Read More »
The group has set up the Singapore Airlines Academy to deliver the courses, which are between one and two days duration, to add to its non-airline revenue streams in a period of precipitous drops in passenger numbers.
The venture also provides the SIA group with opportunities to transfer staff to some of the training roles.
“SIA receives many requests from organisations wanting to know how we have attained our reputation for industry-leading service and operational excellence and to better understand how we achieved our successful digital transformation," SIA senior vice president for human resources, Vanessa Ng, said in a statement.
“Our focus on people development and investment in training has been key to achieving these world-class standards. We are happy to share our competencies by offering specialised training programmes to external organisations. The Singapore Airlines Academy is a strategic move for the SIA Group and has the potential to add a new source of revenue in coming years,” she said.
Ng said the academy would contribute to Singapore’s national goal of re-skilling and up skilling the country’s workforce.
The establishment of the academy followed a partnership earlier this year when the airline ran customer service courses for Khoo Teck Puat Hospital's new patient care officer program.
The three-day course included topics such as effective interpersonal communication, customer handling and learning how to exemplify values such as empathy, warmth and care, SIA said.
In other SIA news, the airline said in a LinkedIn post that the first of two reconfigured 777-300ERs commenced cargo operations this week.
The aircraft have had their seats removed to add more space for cargo, SIA said, which allowed the carriage of 12% more freight per journey. The first aircraft operated between Singapore and Tokyo yesterday. "In these unprecedented times, we will continue to remain nimble and respond swiftly to market needs," SIA said.
There have been several examples of airlines pivoting away from their core flying business due to COVID-19, including SIA's pop-up A380 restaurant, home delivered first and business class meals and training centre tours.
Thai Airways International has run street stalls selling deep fried dough snacks, opened a restaurant at its Bangkok offices and up-cycled old life vests and slide rafts into a variety of different bags for sale.
