SilkAir

History

The airline had its roots as a regional air-charter company as Tradewinds Charters formed in 1975, serving leisure destinations using planes predominantly leased from parent airline Singapore Airlines. Scheduled services were introduced as Tradewinds Airlines on 21 February 1989, when it leased McDonnell Douglas MD-87 aeroplanes for services to 6 destinations: Pattaya, Phuket, Hat Yai and Kuantan from Singapore's Changi International Airport and Tioman from Singapore's Seletar Airport. As the carrier matured, regional business destinations such as Jakarta, Phnom Penh and Yangon were added to its network, thereby broadening the airline's appeal beyond the holiday-maker to include the business traveller.

A major marketing overhaul was started in 1991, culminating on 1 April 1992, by giving the airline its present name and logo as a new corporate identity. The re-branded airline utilised up to six of the new Boeing 737-300s introduced just a year earlier. The mid-1990s saw two Airbus A310-200 aircraft in use and the expansion of services to India as well as mainland China. It was the first Asian carrier to offer handheld portable video-on-demand (VOD) in-flight entertainment in the form of the DigEplayer 5500, available on flights to selected countries.

On 10 April 2015, SilkAir launched a new collection of uniforms, the fourth uniform change in over 26 years. There are two variations of the uniform - aqua-blue for junior crew and a plum-red version for senior crew. Both variations are accompanied by a dark blue skirt.

Business trends

The key business trends for SilkAir are shown in the following table, for each financial year ending 31 March:

Destinations

SilkAir currently flies from Singapore to 50 destinations within an approximate six-hour radius around the region.

Codeshare agreements

SilkAir codeshares with the following airlines:

Fleet

SilkAir began operations with two leased McDonnell Douglas MD-87 aircraft in 1989, before investing in its own fleet of six Boeing 737-300s, the first of which began operations in 1997. It operated two Airbus A310-200s for a brief period from 1993 to 1995 before they were transferred to Singapore Airlines, and two Fokker 70s from 1995 to 2000. It began replacing its Boeing fleet with Airbus aircraft when the first Airbus A320-200 arrived on 18 September 1998, and retired all Boeing aircraft a year later. Soon after its first A320 was delivered, SilkAir took delivery of its first A319-100 aircraft on 3 September 1999. The A319 is currently utilised on certain routes within Southeast Asia, and to some cities in India, while the larger A320 is used on most of the airline's major routes. On 20 December 2006, SilkAir signed an agreement to purchase 11 Airbus A320-200 aircraft with nine more on option. These aircraft were delivered between 2009-2012.

On 3 August 2012, SilkAir had signed a letter of intent with Boeing for a purchase of 68 aircraft. The agreement includes a firm order for 23 Boeing 737-800s and 31 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, and purchase rights for another 14 aircraft. On 14 November 2012, the commitment was then converted to a firm order. The 737 aircraft will be used to replace the older A320 fleet and for the expansion of the airline. On 4 February 2014, SilkAir received its first Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

As of 31 January 2017, the SilkAir fleet consisted of the following aircraft:

Loyalty Programs

SilkAir shares the KrisFlyer frequent flyer program with its parent company, Singapore Airlines. However, unlike Singapore Airlines, SilkAir is not a member of Star Alliance, so frequent flyer miles on SilkAir flights may only credited on the KrisFlyer programme, but not on other Star Alliance frequent flyer programs.

Cabins

There are two classes of cabins available on all SilkAir flights—Business class and Economy class.

Business Class

Business class cabins are available on all SilkAir flights. The business-class cabins offer a seat pitch of between 39 and 40 inches and legroom of 19.3 inches. Business class passengers now receive leather seats which are on all Airbus 319s, Airbus 320s and Boeing 737-800.

Economy Class

All economy class cabins on SilkAir have a seat pitch of 31 inches and legroom of 12 inches. Economy class now features a new autumn colour scheme.

Dining

SilkAir offers Oriental and Western menus. Light snacks are also available on selected flights of less than one and a half hours.

Entertainment

SilkAir offers a selection of magazine titles on board and screens a series of short features on their 11-inch inflight screens. The Silkwinds inflight magazine is complimentary for all passengers. In-seat audio is also available on the Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

SilkAir Studio

Passengers on SilkAir flights that provides wireless streaming will be able to stream blockbuster hits, short features, as well as chart-topping music to their personal laptops and handheld devices via Wi-Fi. This system will complement the existing overhead systems. Passengers in Business Class on flights more than two hours will be offered a tablet.

Tradewinds Tours and Travel

Tradewinds Tours and Travel Private Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of SilkAir, providing package tours to destinations flown by the airline, as well as chartered flights within the Asia region. The company was incorporated in 1975, and became a fully licensed tour operator in 1984.

SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, was once known as Tradewinds Charters at its founding in 1976, before earning its present name in 1991. The chartered operations were hence continued to be handled by Tradewinds Tours and Travel.

Incidents and accidents

On 19 December 1997, SilkAir Flight 185, operated by a Boeing 737-300 and piloted by Captain Tsu Way Ming, plunged into the Musi River in Sumatra during a routine flight from Jakarta to Singapore, killing all 104 people on board. The crash was investigated by various groups, with different results. The Indonesian NTSC, who were lead investigators, stated that they were unable to determine the cause, while the US NTSB concluded that the crash resulted from an intentional act by a pilot, most likely the captain. A civil lawsuit case against Parker Hannifin, the manufacturer of the PCU-dual servo unit essential in the 737's rudder control—and also suspected in causing the crashes of United Airlines Flight 585 and USAir Flight 427 under similar flight-event parameters, had provided the NTSB the initial test results of the recovered PCU-dual servo unit from Flight 185 in 1997, but was later further independently investigated for litigation on behalf some families of Flight 185 passengers in a civil lawsuit against Parker Hannifin. The jury under the Superior Court in Los Angeles in 2004, which was not allowed to hear or consider the NTSB conclusions, decided that the crash was caused by a prominent issue inherent in other 737 crashes: a defective servo valve inside the Power Control Unit (PCU) which controls the aircraft's rudder, causing a rudder hard-over and a subsequent uncontrollable crash. The manufacturer of the aircraft's rudder controls and the families later reached an out of court settlement.