History

Tiger Airways is Singapore’s version of Europe’s nastiest airline Ryanair. Tiger Airways launched its first service in 2004 and is now Australia and Singapore’s ultimate airfares discounter. The company is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange with its largest shareholder being Singapore Airlines. The airline copies Ryanair’s formula of operating a single aircraft type, using the cheapest possible airport services and providing absolutely no free services at all. Like Ryanair, Tiger Airways does not really care about its poor reputation and does not hide the fact they pay their staff peanuts, offer appalling service and cancel flights with unsatisfactory warning or compensation. Like its Irish model Ryanair, Tiger Airways uses its poor reputation and frequent complaints as a tool to generate publicity for the airline which draws attention to the airlines dirt cheap airfares. Tiger Airways began as a challenge to Malaysia’s discounter AirAsia and rapidly spread throughout Southeast Asia. In 2007 Tiger Airways began offering Australian domestic services starting from Melbourne and has expanded rapidly to include most Australian cities. In July 2011 Australian avaition authorities grounded the airline for two months citing numerous safety violations. The airline resumed flying, vowing improvements, but passengers will not notice anything that resembles 'service'. The airline has failed to recapture market share and in 2012 they are little more than a Melbourne based carrier.

On-Board Service

Tiger Airways low paid crew offer a similar level of service as McDonalds. The airline lacks any prestige, pay is poor and crew know they are being totally exploited and they really don’t care. However they are young and thin and haven’t been in the industry very long, so haven’t had time to become totally jaded yet. The main function of crew is to sell passengers onboard junk snacks, alcohol and soft drinks. Don’t expect anything more than that. The same level of low service will be found on Australian domestic routes as Singapore international services. Both hubs seem to use the same ‘Lack of Service Manual’.

Network

Tiger Airways have a reasonable network to and from Singapore to regional cities within five hours flying time of their home base. They essentially serve airports with cheaper landing fees and use cheap terminals if any are available. As well as Perth – Singapore, they have an unreliable network flying from Melbourne to several popular destinations. Before their 2011 grounding they operated a significant network and maintained a base in Adelaide. Australia's travelling public have deserted the airline and their network has scrunk to a Melbourne based skeleton. Tiger Airways reputation for cancelling flights at short notice without providing alternative means of travel can make a Tiger Airways booking a risk too great to take for important trips. Tiger Airways was grounded in Australia from May - July 2011, but their international Perth - Singapore service continued.

Price

The Tiger Airways experience is so terrible that many passengers vow never to fly them again, yet are lured back onto the carrier with their unbelievably low airfares. Many ticket prices are just too cheap to resist. However they can be illusionary as the airline charges for absolutely everything they possibly can – an online booking fee, they call a ‘Convenience Fee’, baggage fees, meals etc. If you need to change a date it’s often cheaper to discard your old ticket and buy a new one. However, if you travel with no bags and get a bargain fare it is genuinely a great deal.

Catering

Tiger Airways provide no free catering at all, however ice is free. It seems odd for an airline that is trying to make money from on-board sales to have such a disgusting selection of the most tasteless food imaginable. The Tiger Airways menu lists the worst possible types of TV style dinners for longer international flights and extremely fattening junk food snacks for Australian domestic passengers and shorter flights. Their coffee smells and tastes like burnt dirt.

Entertainment

Naturally the airline provides no free entertainment at all, except for their in-flight magazine. If you want to be reminded you are on an ultra cheap airline their magazine will do it with advertisements aimed at backpackers and the unemployed.

Ground Service and baggage

Check-in staff are extremely rude and the airlines 20 year old managers are even ruder. The passenger will lose every argument with staff over excess carry-on baggage and arriving late for flights will lighten your wallet further. Singapore’s new discount airline terminal will make seasoned travellers cry with its warehouse-like facilities and wherever similarly low quality services are available in Australia, Tiger Airways use them. Baggage is handled reasonably reliably and is not transferred to other carriers.

Premium Classes & Lounges

Tiger Airways is a single class airline. Their target market seems to be the long term unemployed, backpackers and unsuspecting bargain hunters who don’t know what they’re in for. There are no lounges and at many facilities you cannot even buy a newspaper.

Economy Class

Tiger Airways has cut costs by cutting out all the extras and charging for everything. Planes can be untidy with crumbs on your seat and the last passenger’s food wrappers in the magazine compartment. Apparently head rest protectors are an extra, as Tiger Airways have axed them. However aircraft are new and if you just want to go from A to B on a small budget without bags it can be fine. Not all flights use discount terminals so the experience is OK.

Frequent Flyer Programme

Nonexistent. Frequent flyer programmes cost money to operate which ultimately make ticket prices more expensive, so they don’t and won’t have a loyalty programme

Corporate Culture

Keeping prices down is the name of the game for Tiger Airways. That means paying pilots the lowest possible wages and making them pay for their own training and security clearances. Pilots even have to pay for their own lunch or bring it from home! Tiger Airways pays baggage handlers, check in staff and reservations people the lowest possible. Not only does Tiger Airways treat its staff with contempt but they actually damage their career prospects for other airlines. Many other airlines believe working for Tiger Airways has taught them bad customer skills and makes them untouchable. It is unlikely any Emirates recruiters would consider former Tiger Airways employees for positions. Tiger Airways senior management are cynical hypocrites, skilled liars and ruthless bullies. Tiger Airways is a blemish to the name of Singapore Airlines. They should be ashamed to be associated with such a disreputable enterprise. Despite the marketing disaster of being grounded over safety, Tiger Airways have done nothing meaningful to improve their poor image.

Safety

Tiger Airways do have new aircraft, but have them maintained by the cheapest possible contractors. Their pilots are typically the worst paid in the industry and don’t give a damn about the company. The airline cuts any corner it needs to, to save a dollar, but so far has not had any incident to blemish their record. In March 2011 Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority issued the airline a ‘Show Cause’ notice demanding the airline prove why is still deserved its license to fly given its breaches and in June 2011 a flight was investigated for flying too low. When the airline again flew too low a few days later Australia's aviation regulators grounded the airline for several weeks from 2 July stating 'Tiger has not been able to, at this stage, to convince us that they can continue operations safely'. The airline's Singapore operations seem to be better run than their Australian counterparts, or is there genuinely an element of Australian regulators being applying tougher standards, because they are an Asian airline?

Tiger Airways - Rating

Tiger is cheap, nasty and unsafe. It is was grounded for two months in 2011 in Australia over safety breaches. The only thing in their favour is price.

www.tigerairways.com