February 01, 09:27 PM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 A really strange piece of news has floated into the public's consciousness on Friday: It appears Singapore Airlines is cracking its brains on how to make more money off travellers.
[quipbox float="right" boxcolor="000000" boxhead="Why pricing Singapore Airline tickets is already driving some people nuts"]
“The guys who price tickets are going nuts treating premium ticket passengers like budget airline bums – shorter validity, high penalty fees and so on. This is the only airline that is capable of making a full fare paying first class passenger cry because she had to pay a US$300 penalty for missing her flight at the gate, with boarding pass in hand. On top of that, it chided the ground handling company for trying to restore some dignity to the situation.”
Does a chief executive need to have personality? (March 13, 2013) by Emmanuel Daniel
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Strange because, SIA -- whose plane tickets are one of the least modestly-priced in the world -- is not raking in enough moolah and they are proudly announcing this fact to the world.
So much so they have even reportedly set up a "new revenue" unit last month to brainstorm new ideas of generating revenue -- by milking passengers.
However, details of where exactly the "new revenue" will come from is still sketchy.
This is because SIA is already an all-in, full-service premium carrier. It cannot do what budget airlines do, such as sell in-flight food and drinks at a separate cost. That will just make them look desperate.
Currently, though, the airline is offering an upgrade service where passengers pay between S$25 and S$125 for more legroom, with prices varying according to distance flown.
This service was started as early as 2008, where the paid upgrade service is available on all flights except on Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.
No one is sure how passengers view such extra charges, although it already sounds a tad exploitative. Pay more so you don't die from deep vein thrombosis?
Ideas such as bundling travel insurance, hotel rooms and car rental as part of a SIA package deal have since been floated. But how well it will work is really anybody's guess, because pricing tickets is not exactly SIA's strongest suit. (See right: Why pricing Singapore Airline tickets is already driving some people nuts.)
Therefore, nothing groundbreaking here, unless paying more will ensure better-looking stewardesses. (Ok, joking.)
More seriously, SIA's current problems with how it is being run might be more deep-rooted.
An incisive 3,700-word critique has been written about the airline's management board and CEO in March last year by Emmanuel Daniel, a Singapore-based entrepreneur, belletrist and speaker on the international circuit on topics relating to the financial services industry.
He wasn't putting the blame on anyone in particular for the woes that betide SIA, except that it was the fault of the CEO, the management board, Temasek Holdings, the media, the culture of obscurity, the business strategy, you name it.
Viewed in this light, trying to make more money off passengers with some run-of-the-mill packages might seem like the easiest issue to tackle of all.
For a start.
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