Singapore Airlines (SIA), Scoot and Jetstar Asia will require all Singapore-based frontline staff, including pilots and cabin crew, to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
For Singapore Airlines Group, SIA staff will need to fulfil this requirement by September 1 while Scoot employees have up till December 1 to do so. Jetstar Asia employees will be required to be vaccinated by October 1.
According to news reports, all Singapore-based SIA Group frontline ground staff have been vaccinated, while about 99 per cent of the group’s active pilots and cabin crew have also been inoculated.
Over at Jetstar Asia, almost 100 per cent of its employees have been vaccinated.
Airlines spokespeople have emphasised that the requirements are in line with a government advisory issued on July 2, which allows employers to make vaccination a requirement for staff in higher-risk settings.
While the same advisory said employers should not make Covid-19 vaccination mandatory, in line with Singapore’s national vaccination policy, exceptions are allowed where employees may be exposed to a higher risk of Covid-19 infection. Examples of such jobs or settings include aircrew, laboratory employees working on Covid-19 and frontline maritime employees.
The Ministry of Manpower has urged against penalising staff who decline vaccination. Instead, the individual should be redeployed to another position with lower risk of Covid-19 infection.
According to The Straits Times, Singapore Airlines Group is engaging a small number of frontline staff who have yet to be inoculated, so as to understand and address their concerns.
