Hermann Freidanck, the food and beverage director of Singapore Airlines
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SIA is decidedly retro in certain respects, including its celebration of what it calls the Singapore Girl, selected for her beauty, grace and youth. There are male flight attendants at SIA, but they get little attention. Until a few years ago, SIA insisted flight attendants (even married ones) who became pregnant resign. Since 1996, it has rehired some for short-haul flights. Even now, though, frequent passengers notice that the female flight attendants never seem to age. Few customers complain. "I'm 55, and so are the flight attendants on American Airlines in first class, and I appreciate their ... experience," says an American satellite-communications consultant who frequents several international airlines. But he prefers the eye candy on SIA. "It's much more fun hanging around 22-year-old girls. It makes those long flights go faster."
Nonetheless, some aviation observers are wondering whether SIA has lost some of its polish. SIA's attempts to stretch overseas through passenger-airline investments in India, the Philippines and New Zealand have turned sour. SIA took a $157 million loss on its investment in Air New Zealand. And a 49% stake in British-based Virgin Atlantic, bought in 1999 for $1.6 billion, has lost, by some estimates, almost two-thirds of its value, though many analysts think the deal will prove profitable in the long run.
The government suggested last summer that it might sell its stake in SIA. It is also considering allowing a low-fare competitor to start up at Changi. SIA executives say they could respond by converting SilkAir, their Asian regional carrier, into a low-fare airline.
SIA's global nature, until now an asset, might begin to work against it. Security concerns, which were heightened after the 9/11 attacks, became even more severe for SIA in the aftermath of the terrorist bombing in Bali, Indonesia, last October. SIA spent $5.8 million last year to install cockpit doors but won't go into any further detail on its security measures. Worsening conflicts in the Middle East could hurt the airline more than they would most of its competitors, because it has extensive routes throughout that region.
Still, many airlines have similar concerns, and few are as well equipped as SIA to respond, financially and otherwise. At a time when the industry is finding most of its economies in running fewer flights with greater numbers of passengers, Singapore Air operates one of the largest 747 passenger fleets in the world and is gearing up to introduce the double-decker 555-seat Airbus A380 in 2006. It's likely that airports around the world will follow the lead of Las Vegas, a midtier destination that is betting SIA will offer a lucrative link to the developing markets of Asia, including China.
To understand the long-term thinking and the staying power of SIA, it's worth thinking back to those wines that were chosen late last year, including a 1999 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, a Bordeaux that retails for upwards of $130, and a 1998 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Fay Vineyard Cabernet, an $85 Californian. Neither of them will be served on SIA's new U.S. flights this year. Instead, they will be cellared until 2005 or 2006, when they will have developed the right character for drinking. --With reporting by Douglas Wong/Singapore