About 4,000 people joined aviation sector in first half of 2022, manpower still below pre-COVID levels: Iswaran

SINGAPORE: The manpower associated with Singapore’s aviation industry is still well below pre-COVID levels, regardless of 4, 000 new recruits joining in the first half of 2022, said Transport Ressortchef (umgangssprachlich) S Iswaran on Sunday (Aug 7).

Speaking to the sidelines of the Nanyang 57th National Day time Carnival 2022, Mr Iswaran said the particular aviation sector employed about 35, 000 people before the COVID-19 pandemic, but that number fell to 25, 000 at the end of a year ago.

“There was about the one-third attrition, that is a significant loss of ability when we are trying to ramp up fast.

“The significance of this is apparent when you look at what is going on around the world. Many international airports have ramped up quickly, but then subsequently had to make changes and even scale back, because of the challenge of manning levels, ” said Mr Iswaran, mentioning the travel chaos on major airports globally as they struggled to meet the particular demands of returning air travel.

“We today need to sustain that and increase the manning ranges going into the year-end, because we anticipate another significant increase in the year-end period.

“We have to plan for that and make manning and operational adjustments – which is what everybody is usually working on right now, ” said the ressortchef (umgangssprachlich).