Ex-staff of shuttered carrier Jetstar Asia land new jobs

90% of its pilots and cabin crew have secured interviews or offers: Labour chief

- Vanessa Paige Chelvan

After 15 years at Jetstar Asia, including 11 years spent training its cabin crew, it had become second nature for Mr Fatah Nawawi to dress for work in a shirt and tie.

But on the first day of his new job as a training and development manager at SAAA Cargo Services, the commercial arm of the Singapore Aircargo Agents Association, he was met with puzzled looks.

"You're not from here, right?" one co-worker asked.

Mr Fatah, 37, is one of 550 Jetstar Asia staff who lost their jobs when the airline stopped operations on July 31. He started his new job in early August.

After 15 years, the prospect of finding a new job was daunting, Mr Fatah told The Straits Times.

He joined Jetstar Asia in 2010 as a flight attendant, and after four years was promoted to oversee the training of all cabin crew.

"It was my comfort zone," Mr Fatah said of the airline.

Learning that he would be retrenched was difficult. "It broke me."

He was also worried that his skills would not be recognised and valued outside the airline industry, but decided to give SAAA Cargo Services a try after meeting the company's representatives at a job fair.

The three-day job fair was organised for Jetstar Asia staff by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in June. Nearly 40 employers from a mix of industries, from aviation and aerospace to public transport and hospitality, took part.