International cabin crew members?

[SQavgeek]

Hello there! So, I have a few questions for you.

1. Do you think that Singapore Airlines will employ international cabin crew members in the future? (Except the few Asian countries)

2. Why is it that Singapore Airlines doesn't have cabin crew members stationed in other countries than Singapore?

[SQ228]

Hello there! So, I have a few questions for you.

1. Do you think that Singapore Airlines will employ international cabin crew members in the future? (Except the few Asian countries)

2. Why is it that Singapore Airlines doesn't have cabin crew members stationed in other countries than Singapore?

SQ prides itself on crew training and rightfully so. I would imagine having people based far away in other countries would make it more difficult to regulate.

[SQavgeek]

SQ prides itself on crew training and rightfully so. I would imagine having people based far away in other countries would make it more difficult to regulate.

Oh yeah, that makes sense.

[SQ228]

Oh yeah, that makes sense.

It could also be because they are, to an extent, government owned. Someone with better knowledge of Singaporean employment regulations than me would need to provide comment on that though.

[SQ002]

Thanks for posting the thread. I’ve always wanted to discuss something like this. My $0.02 as a huge huge fan of SQ crews.

1. Not in the near future. Like mentioned above, SQ crews are heavily branded as “coming from Singapore,” and recruiting from nearby countries (i.e. China, Thailand, India) wouldn’t deviate much from that image. As much as Singapore’s population getting more and more diverse, I don’t see SQ would recruit CCs from countries outside of Asia.
2. IIRC, all SQ’s crews are currently based in SIN. There is no point having a foreign station. An example I know is that for CX’s foreign-based crews, they operated flights together as one group (instead of a mix of HKG crews and foreign crews).

I am going to throw in a question too:
On my recent trips between SFO and HKG, I noticed that none of these trips have Chinese-nationality crews anymore. Also, PAs have gone from English & Mandarin to English to machine-Mandarin to now English only. Any thought on why is that? Where are the Chinese crews?

[SQ228]

On my recent trips between SFO and HKG, I noticed that none of these trips have Chinese-nationality crews anymore. Also, PAs have gone from English & Mandarin to English to machine-Mandarin to now English only. Any thought on why is that? Where are the Chinese crews?

That's not just with Mandarin. Danish and Dutch were always a recording, but on recent flights from AMS & CPH, I remember that all I heard was English. I would acknowledge, however, that it is hard to find anyone Dutch or Danish these days who doesn't speak enough English to understand a standard announcement, since many of the smaller European countries began teaching English to all school students a very long time ago.

German flights vary between recordings or live announcements. In some instances the recordings make more sense as a crew member reading from a standard script but struggling to pronounce a lot of the words isn't preferable. I don't think I've ever heard an 'ad lib' German announcement.

[SQavgeek]

I remember there was once a few requirements on the Singapore Airlines Cabin Crew Careers page about looks, dark hair and dark eyes or something like that. That is not stated as a requirement anymore, does anyone have any idea why?

[SQ002]

That's not just with Mandarin. Danish and Dutch were always a recording, but on recent flights from AMS & CPH, I remember that all I heard was English. I would acknowledge, however, that it is hard to find anyone Dutch or Danish these days who doesn't speak enough English to understand a standard announcement, since many of the smaller European countries began teaching English to all school students a very long time ago.

German flights vary between recordings or live announcements. In some instances the recordings make more sense as a crew member reading from a standard script but struggling to pronounce a lot of the words isn't preferable. I don't think I've ever heard an 'ad lib' German announcement.

IIRC, before 2014, there were always a Chinese crew onboard making live Mandarin announcements and proactively assist Chinese passengers who don't speak English since SQ001/002 has a significant number of Chinese speakers. But since then, Chinese crew becomes very rare on these flights and the Mandarin announcements were on recordings. From 2015 and on, even the machine recordings disappeared, and I haven't seen Chinese crews regularly serving this route. Although, there is always someone in the Singaporean CC who speaks Mandarin or Cantonese.

I spoke to some Chinese crews years ago, and they said they were almost only placed on flights to China/HK/Taiwan/SFO. Not sure if the rules have changed now so they can fly to any destination.

[SQ002]

I remember there was once a few requirements on the Singapore Airlines Cabin Crew Careers page about looks, dark hair and dark eyes or something like that. That is not stated as a requirement anymore, does anyone have any idea why?

Although it is not clearly stated, that requirement becomes a hidden one now, so I was told. In the short term, don't expect to see the SQ CC to look much different from that.

[GCHaviation]

At least SQ don't have US-based crew like CX. ps: CX usually train their cadetship captain at Adelaide, South Australia.

[GCHaviation]

My friend told me he flown SQ1 from SFO to HKG two weeks ago, all announcements now are English only.
Unlike CX872 he took on the way back to SFO, FAs do English, Cantonese and Mandarin live announcements.

[concept|infinit]

Although it is not clearly stated, that requirement becomes a hidden one now, so I was told. In the short term, don't expect to see the SQ CC to look much different from that.

Guess they removed that as they know how politically incorrect it sounds.

If it makes financial sense to and if they can ensure adequate training, I don't see why there couldn't be "Singapore Girls" from countries west of India. With the international crew members from around Asia these days, I think many more passengers are aware that some of the Singapore girls aren't Singaporean.

So maybe the concept of the Singapore Girls now could be that they represent the hospitality of SQ and Singapore, even if they aren't Singaporean.. and aren't brunette.

[SQ002]

My friend told me he flown SQ1 from SFO to HKG two weeks ago, all announcements now are English only.
Unlike CX872 he took on the way back to SFO, FAs do English, Cantonese and Mandarin live announcements.

Correct. SQ1/2 announcements are English only now. Sometimes passengers will ring the call button to ask CCs to translate the announcements.

That also reminds me that the CCs have not been passing landing cards right before landing for both directions. Guess everybody knows the rules.

[SQ002]

At least SQ don't have US-based crew like CX. ps: CX usually train their cadetship captain at Adelaide, South Australia.

I wish they would consider recruiting crews who are US-based. Maybe I would give it a shot

[SQ228]

That also reminds me that the CCs have not been passing landing cards right before landing for both directions. Guess everybody knows the rules.

Every SIN bound flight I've been on for years would have CC come through with immigration cards. The one time ever that I wanted one, I asked and was told to get one once I landed. The very next flight heading to SIN I took, they came through with the cards.