Brunei’s national carrier lays off foreign pilots
Brunei’s national carrier Royal Brunei Airlines said it is terminating all contracts with foreign pilot it employs in order to reduce manpower due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis which has led to a near-collapse in travel demand.
Brunei’s minister at the Prime Minister’s office and second minister of finance and economy, Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew Bin Abdullah, said at a recent press conference that because Royal Brunei was “not flying as frequently as it used to,” it had developed the problem of excess manpower, especially at the pilot level.
“It is true that we are letting go of foreign pilots. This is something we do not like to do but we are managing a business and are seriously looking at cost management, so this sort of retrenchment is something inevitable,” Awang, who is also chairman of Royal Brunei’s board of directors, said.
“In fact we are seeing this in many countries with all airlines. But obviously it will not solve the problem, so we have to look at other cost containment measures as I think we all know that international travel will not come back any time soon,” he added.
Steep decline in travel demand
The layoff announcement comes after Brunei’s aviation sector recorded a steep decline of 93.1 per cent in travelers the second quarter of 2020 as opposed to the same period last year.
Royal Brunei has suspended a vast majority of its flights since the end of March, only retaining four out of 29 routes but has resumed flying to three other destinations from August to October.
The current destinations are London, Melbourne, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Manila, and there are charter flights to Hangzhou.
A Boeing 747-400 Royal Brunei formerly used for long-haul flights Brunei's national carrier Royal Brunei Airlines said it is terminating all contracts with foreign pilot it employs in order to reduce manpower due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis which has led to a near-collapse in travel demand. Brunei's minister at the Prime Minister's office and second minister of finance and economy, Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew Bin Abdullah, said at a recent press conference that because Royal Brunei was “not flying as frequently as it used to,” it had developed the problem of excess manpower, especially at the...
Brunei’s national carrier Royal Brunei Airlines said it is terminating all contracts with foreign pilot it employs in order to reduce manpower due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis which has led to a near-collapse in travel demand.
Brunei’s minister at the Prime Minister’s office and second minister of finance and economy, Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew Bin Abdullah, said at a recent press conference that because Royal Brunei was “not flying as frequently as it used to,” it had developed the problem of excess manpower, especially at the pilot level.
“It is true that we are letting go of foreign pilots. This is something we do not like to do but we are managing a business and are seriously looking at cost management, so this sort of retrenchment is something inevitable,” Awang, who is also chairman of Royal Brunei’s board of directors, said.
“In fact we are seeing this in many countries with all airlines. But obviously it will not solve the problem, so we have to look at other cost containment measures as I think we all know that international travel will not come back any time soon,” he added.
Steep decline in travel demand
The layoff announcement comes after Brunei’s aviation sector recorded a steep decline of 93.1 per cent in travelers the second quarter of 2020 as opposed to the same period last year.
Royal Brunei has suspended a vast majority of its flights since the end of March, only retaining four out of 29 routes but has resumed flying to three other destinations from August to October.
The current destinations are London, Melbourne, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Manila, and there are charter flights to Hangzhou.
