hclee01

Source: The Straits Times

Extract of report:

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its regional arm, SilkAir, have merged part of their finance operations, as part of an ongoing transformation to stave off competition in the industry.

Bringing SilkAir into SIA's fold would make business sense for the group, said Temasek Polytechnic aviation management and services senior lecturer Gary Ho.

"SilkAir as a brand has not had much traction and retiring the brand may actually be a good thing for SIA. The airline can then focus on two distinct brands - SIA in the premium segment and Scoot focusing on the budget market - which are very different and offer very different products and services. This increased clarity will be good for the group," he said.

"I have often heard passengers complaining that they bought an SIA ticket but received a SilkAir product, which is not on a par. This (a merger) will allow SIA to serve many more markets with a consistent product."

tub

SilkAir is already in the fold of Singapore Airlines. It can't bring it further into the fold other than just retiring the brand...which, functionally for us consumers, won't make one iota of difference

mihaid

Actually it would make a difference for some. If SilkAir brand is retired and SIA would start operating at least part of those routes (assuming not all routes would be transferred to Scoot), those flights would earn miles in other Star Alliance programs too.

pokfur

Agree. The biggest plus point for those who aren't on the KF programme is that their Star Alliance benefits will now be recognized when flying MI.

Actually I would think it's a good thing. The SQ brand is so much stronger than the MI brand. Right now I find the MI uniform quite an eyesore! Cost-wise, they can still manage the flight/cabin crew separately from mainline SQ with different remuneration packages. I.e. internally there're still two distinct pools of 'Silkair crew' and 'SQ Crew' that do not interchange, a little bit like how BA has the worldwide, mixed, and euro fleet, all enjoying different remuneration and benefits, that do not interchange and only fly together within that pool of crew in the same 'fleet'. However to the customer, they would all appear simply as SQ cabin crew, which is definitely not a bad thing.

Imagine a 737Max8 in SQ colours!

gilbertaue

Not a max 8... but
and not real... but
(image: http://www.cardatabase.net/modifieda...hp?id=00008315)

behyx

Wondering if it will have any impact on Singapore Airlines share price if the merger really go through?

OpenSky

Not happening. SIA is a premium wide body airline only, Silkair is a different breed.
Think Emirates and fly dubai.

sozq2121

Not the best reason there. Silkair is a subsidiary of SIA and with the recent merger of Tigerair and Scoot (both were/are SQ LCC offshoots) I don't see why this is impossible. If you read the news article posted above SQ and MI also recently merged their financial operations.

In fact there are alot of similarities and synergies in how they operate while the differences continue to be a hindrance to efforts on fostering better efficiences within the group (think in terms of manpower, disparity in product offerings etc).

Perhaps the best way forward is to do away with the weaker Silkair brand so that the group can focus on strengthening their offerings in the two distinct sectors - premium FSC (with Silkair absorbed to mainline SIA) and the LCC (with Scoot).

There are indeed hearsay about a potential merger and I personally look forward to it happening - only if they match both hard and soft product offerings across the board, especially on their new Max 8s. Would be pointless if they retire the brand and create a new sub-brand like "SIA Express" (think Air India Express) - that would be a colossal waste of time and money, IMO.

davidj1

Try that photochop with Tigerair or Scoot and then we have something reasonable.

OpenSky

Well I would not object, but the MI fleet would need to redo the seat slightly ( in Business) and some of the amenities would need to be upgraded to match the Singapore Airlines standard. Otherwise, you're diluting a great brand. On MI I expect something, and on SQ I expect something. If I walk into an SQ aircraft and I don't get what I expect that's a problem. Speaking as PPS

I'm thinking how QR does it would be ok with me. The service on the QR A320, pitch, width is acceptable for the flights it operates on, as well as amenities to match. Otherwise its best to keep this separate the way EK and Fly Dubai do. Or else SQ might drop to being a 4 star carrier.

MainlyMiles

We wrote an article on this topic back in December 2017. There are many reasons why it's a very likely prospect, including space for bigger business class seats in the 737 MAX.

lokijuh

Many Nearly all airlines do it (have same brand, but distinct offering on the med/long haul widebody fleet vs vastly inferior short haul narrow body fleet ), exceptions that come to mind immediately are EK and maybe CX (although with rebranding of KA, the distinction is less so now). That doesn't mean it would be necessarily wise for SQ to do given it would dilute the brand - unless they upgraded MI fleet to have a better J seat and PTV's with Krisworld throughout the aircraft to meet the SQ standard Not totally out of the question I assume, but it would mean some of MI flights changing to a SQ narrow body operation and others being transferred to Scoot like KCH and LGK have.