SUBANG (Sept 12): SIA Engineering Co Ltd (SIAEC), the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) arm of Singapore Airlines Ltd, said less than 10% of its new hires in the country came from Malaysia Airlines’ engineering arm.
Its senior vice-president of base maintenance Jeremy Yew was responding to recent news that the departures of 63 of 411 engineers from MAB Engineering Services to SIAEC are partly to blame for Malaysia Airlines’ recent surge of flight disruptions. Opposition politicians had also criticised the Malaysian government for allowing SIAEC to set up a local MRO operation at Sultan Aziz Shah Airport here, which had allegedly been recruiting Malaysia Airlines engineers.
Yew said technical staff hired from MAB Engineering Services go through an open recruitment process, including from career fairs, job portals, and the SIAEC’s LinkedIn page.
The criteria set for staff hired from MAB Engineering Services are the same as those applied to the remaining 90% of SIAEC’s technical workforce.
“We respect local laws and industrial norms. We have never targeted or poached personnel from any particular company,” said Yew in an interview on the sidelines of the Selangor Aviation Show 2024 on Thursday.
Yew is also the chairman of Base Maintenance Malaysia Sdn Bhd (BMM), SIAEC’s Malaysian subsidiary.
Last December, SIAEC had signed a 15-year agreement with Impeccable Vintage Properties Sdn Bhd (IVP), a subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which is Malaysia Airlines’ shareholder, for the lease of two hangars at Subang Airport, with an option to extend the lease for another 15 years.
According to Yew, BMM currently employs 150 technical staff, more than 20% of whom are trainees from training programmes tied to Malaysian institutes of higher learning, including ADMAL Aviation College, APR-Aviation Training Centre, and recently, a partnership with Universiti Kuala Lumpur.
“Our goal is to develop a local talent pipeline, giving trainees hands-on experience in our facility and securing them good jobs within our organisation. We also aim to expand further, ensuring a sustainable talent pipeline to drive the growth we hope to achieve here,” he said.
Yew also said the refurbishment of the hangars is underway, and is expected to take one year to complete. BMM anticipates conducting its first aircraft check by the second half of 2025.
“Our plan is to develop capabilities for the new generation of wide-body aircraft, such as the Airbus A350, Boeing 787 and [Boeing] 777. These will be the three main types of aircraft that BMM will initially service,” he added.