SINGAPORE : Singapore Airlines pilots who will be flying the new Airbus A380 fleet will get a better pay package.

In a decision that could set a new benchmark for the aviation industry, the Industrial Arbitration Court has decided that pilots should get a pay rise.

The new Airbus A380 planes are larger and have never been used by other airlines before.

The first of SIA's Airbus A380 fleet is due to arrive in October.

The Airline Pilots' Association (ALPA-S), led by Captain P James, had argued that pilots who fly these bigger planes have added responsibilities and thus deserve a pay rise. And the court agrees.

Captain James said, "We recognise there is no market data for the A380. Because there is no market data, we propose just an increase of S$1,000 for the captains, and the court has awarded S$700 and that's fine, it's at least more than half way what we wanted, so why not."

The Court ruled that the minimum salary for Captains on the A380 will be S$700 more than that of captains for the Boeing 747-400 series jet. And this works out to S$10,700 a month.

The maximum salary range will remain at S$16,500, which is also pegged against the maximum salary for the B-744.

In its ruling, the court also said the minimum salary for first officers on the A380 will be S$450 more than their colleagues on the B-744, with the maximum salary remaining at S$9,250.

SIA had earlier argued that flying the super jumbo is not very different from flying other planes due to technological advances.

But it says it is studying the implications of this salary revision.

The airline would have to incur more costs but it is likely to have little impact on its bottom-line.

The number of pilots affected by the ruling is also small, since the delivery of the new planes will be spread over the next few years.

SIA is satisfied with the outcome.

It said that with the judgement, it can now move forward with certainty and the pilots are keen to get the A380 off the ground.

Stephen Forshaw, Vice President, Public Affairs, Singapore Airlines, said, "We have to remember that from time to time, we are going to have differences of views with unions and issues; there is a process by which we are going to deal with those issues. I think at the end of the day, we've now got closure on this issue and we can now move forward.

"The judgement gives us some scope to work with the collective agreement negotiation coming up later in the year; the current agreement expires in September."

And looking forward, the court pointed out that it is not satisfactory that there must be negotiations for a new pay package every time SIA buys a new type of aircraft. And this should be considered when the new collective agreement is being worked out.

Addressing arguments from both sides, the panel said the ease with which modern planes may be manoeuvred is not a reason for docking the pilots' salaries.

Similarly, the size of a plane and the number of passengers carried cannot remain a reason for increasing the salaries of pilots.

In conclusion, the panel chaired by Justice Tan Lee Meng urged the ALPA-S and the SIA management to redouble their efforts to ensure continued success of the company.

He said while the sky is the limit for SIA, the pie in the sky has to be shared with other airlines who are ordering their affairs to be keener competitors of SIA. - CNA/ch/ms