30 July 2002
Readers Of Forbes.com Give Singapore Airlines The Thumbs Up For First Class Product
Respondents of Forbes.com’s Internet survey of Best First Class Service voted Singapore Airlines (SIA) as ‘Best In First
Class’. SIA secured 320 votes, or about 54% of all votes cast in its round – “a winner by a long shot” as claimed by
Forbes.com.
According to Forbes.com, “The results were not surprising as much as conclusive” and “it was clear from the polls that a
majority of readers favoured one first-class section over another”.
SIA picked up a string of other awards for its products and services from around the world in the month of July.
SIA won the ‘Best Foreign Airline’ award at the prestigious annual Travel & Leisure World’s Best Awards. It was presented to Mr Vijendran Alfreds, SIA’s Vice President Eastern USA/ South America,
at an awards ceremony held on 18 July 2002.
This marks the sixth time in seven attempts that SIA has claimed top spot in the US publication’s survey of its readers.
Respondents were asked to rate airlines on five characteristics – cabin comfort, food, inflight service, customer
service and value. SIA received the top score with an indexed average of 88.44, more than four points ahead of its
closest rival.
SIA was awarded ‘Best Economy Class’ following a survey of readers of Reise & Preise, a German travel magazine. Respondents were asked to rate the condition of flight cabin, seating comfort,
inflight catering, service disposition of flight attendants, all-round service, inflight entertainment, communication
and entertainment technology.
Readers of another German magazine paid tribute to SIA’s products and services in July 2002. SIA was voted ‘Best Airline
For Flights To Asia’ by Flug Revue, a leading German aviation magazine.
The French also got in the act, when Que Choisir, a high-profile consumer magazine run by France’s largest and strongest
Consumer Association, ranked SIA number one for ‘Quality of Services’. Five different service areas were assessed –
ground services, onboard services, assistance in case of delay/cancellation/loss of baggage, baggage handling/forwarding
and punctuality.
The Taiwanese also made their views known. CommonHealth, a Taiwanese publication conducted a survey of airline
passengers focusing primarily on health matters, among other things. SIA emerged first in 4 out of the 9 categories
surveyed – Airline Most Compliant With Health Standards/Services, Safest Airline, Lowest Noise Level, and Most
Diversified Inflight Audio/Video Entertainment. Corporations surveyed by a Taiwanese publication, Global Views Monthly,
voted SIA as ‘Most Trusted Airline’ with the Airline securing 38.2% of votes cast.
In Singapore, respondents of JobStreet.com’s The People’s Choice Survey 2002 ranked SIA number one in the Top 5
Singapore Companies Category. Voters cited “the airline’s stability in what is a difficult period for the industry”,
“management leadership”, and “SIA delivering on its promise of restoring pay cuts if certain milestones were achieved”
as key examples that differentiate SIA from the other Singaporean employers. SIA finished runner-up in the Top 10
Companies (Overall) category. JobStreet.com is one of Asia’s leading online recruitment companies, and offers an array
of career services.
Ends