Singapore, June 17: Singapore Airlines (SIA) on Tuesday confirmed that staff retrenchments will be unavoidable as it faces its first-ever quarterly loss following the crippling SARS epidemic. But it dismissed as speculation a report that up to 2,500 of the SIA group's 30,000 employees could lose their jobs.

"We have made it clear to our staff that some degree of retrenchment cannot be avoided," an SIA spokesman said.
"In the meantime, a special early retirement package has been offered to certain staff with at least 25 years' service, if they wish to take advantage of it," the spokesman said.
However, SIA declined to provide any numbers or percentages, saying that its staff and unions will be informed first before the airline makes any information public.
The SIA group has some 30,000 employees, with 14,300 working for the airline itself. The group includes SIA Engineering and Singapore Airport Terminal Services. Bureau Report