Brief History of Singapore Airlines (SIA)• Originally, Singapore Airlines was part of Malaysian-Singapore Airlines (MSA)

• Following Singapore’s independence from Malaysia, The government of Singapore felt it was necessary to create an airline which reflected the financial success of Singapore

• Singapore Airlines was created on January 28th 1972• SIA received 83% of MSA’s assets including aircrafts, personnel and

route rights ($203 million USD) • From the very beginning, Singapore Airlines targeted to become a

borderless international carrier because Singapore was a very small country (2 million people)• In order for SIA to achieve this goal, Singapore had to implement the

open skis policy to negotiate with other nations for the operation rights• These unique circumstances forced SIA to directly compete against

other major airlines such as British Airways and Qantas from early on

Their Business plan was to become the Asian-European “linkage”. SIA serviced many popular Asian-Pacific destinations as well as many European cities. Sydney, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Osaka…etc London, Athens, Frankfurt, Zurich, Paris and Amsterdam

Brief History of Singapore Airlines (SIA) Despite the tremendous success in Europe, SIA’s first service to North America didn’t

begin until 1977. It started with San Francisco and expanded to other destinations such as Los

Angeles, Honolulu and New York. In 1997, Singapore became the first nation in the world to sign the open skis

agreement with the United States. It now had the right to operate freely. SIA became part of the supersonic airlines group when they started servicing the

Concord jointly with British Airways from 1977 until 1980 Singapore – Bahrain – London The service did not last long as passengers could not justify the 15% premium on

the first class rate of the same route. However, the operation of Concord was a huge PR hit with the general public and

created a huge interest around the world. In 1990, SIA became the first Asian airline to service Berlin

Today, SIA is one of the most successful and most respected airline in the world One of the highest load factor in the world One of the most profitable airlines

The Reasons Behind Their Success

A unique corporate culture to constantly improve their competitiveness The employers strongly depend on employees for their feedbacks and criticisms The employees rely on the employers to better themselves through peer-pressure

Prudent management efficiency Achieved this through self-sustaining implementations

Maintenance (excellent safety record), catering, pilot training, cargo, and even insurance

Targeted to become a quality service provider Rigorous and constant cabin crew training (not appearing robotic to the passengers, speaking multiple

languages, remembering passengers names) The youngest fleet of any airline in the world SIA’s service became a benchmark for the industry

Voted many times the “world’s best airline” by many costumer survey and business publications Won 23 international awards for its service in 1998 alone

Always staying ahead of the curve Was the first to serve complementary beverages, headphones and cold towels (small changes, but industry

leading in the 70s) Was the first to provide personal video system in economy class Was the first to service with B-747s, A-310 the Concord and DC-10s in Asia Was the first to service with A380 in the World

Industry pioneer and leader of partnerships Recognizing that the costumers wanted more choices (schedule and prices), SIA became part of the Star

Alliance Partnerships with non-star alliance members such as KLM, SAS, AA, BA, JAL, NZ

These differentiating implementations combined with their operations focused on costumer satisfaction lead them to build a massive costumer loyalty for their brand. The loyalty is what makes them very successful during good and difficult times. (never failed to earn profits until 2002)