Under The Angsana Tree: Latest Scoot flight incident is 12th major disruption in 5 months

Scoot CEO’s apology for service disruption wins praise from PR fraternity

Scoot’s CEO Lee Lik Hsin has apologised for the airline clocking at least 12 major flight disruptions caused by technical issues since November 2018. In an interview with The Straits Times, the CEO said that the brand has “heard the feedback [of the people] loudly and clearly” and noted that customer confidence in the brand has dropped. He also added that he was aware this might lead to customer purchasing decisions being affected.

In the interview, Lee also shared steps taken by the airline to intensify its aircraft maintenance and inspections, as well as to address engineering issues and service gaps.

His interview with the national paper, said Hilary Davies, managing director for W Communications Singapore, spoke volumes to help with public perception. It also shows the brand as an agile one, ready to act on issues. “Having [the CEO] front the communications around these updates speaks volumes, showing this isn’t just hot air. However having taken a step into the spotlight, Lee will need to remain visible to truly build and maintain public trust,” added Davies.

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Latest S’pore to Taipei Scoot flight incident is 12th major disruption in 5 months

Oxygen masks deployed by pilots as precautionary measure

Scoot has revealed that the activation of oxygen masks on board flight TR996 on Sunday, March 24 was initiated by its pilots. Flight TR996 was travelling from Singapore to Taipei when it experienced abnormal cabin pressure during descent.

Passengers were not informed about the exact nature of the difficulties until now, two days after the incident occurred.

CNA reported this latest incident is the 12th known major flight disruption caused by aircraft technical issues that Scoot has experienced in five months since November 2018.

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Pilots’ decisions contributed to loss of cabin pressure on flight TR996: Scoot

Oxygen masks activated on Scoot flight TR996 during landing at Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport. (Photo: 8WorldNews/张福麟)

Singapore Airlines’ budget arm, Scoot, has revealed that the activation of oxygen masks on board flight TR996 on Sun (Mar 24) was initiated by its pilots.

In a statement to Channel NewsAsia, Scoot said that “preliminary investigations indicated that the operating pilots made some procedural decisions in the descent phase of the flight that contributed to a slight loss of cabin pressure”. The pilots were flying an Airbus A320-200 from Singapore to Taipei, when the incident occurred.

The latest incident is among a string of at least 12 major flight disruptions caused by aircraft technical issues that Scoot has experienced since November last year.

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SIA and CAAS should look into long flight delays by Scoot

I refer to the news report on the latest flight delay by Scoot which saw passengers stranded for over two days in Greece due to a technical fault. This marked the third such significant delay of a Scoot flight in four weeks. All had similar characteristics - technical fault, communication shortfalls and long remedy periods – plus pro forma responses from the operator.

Surely these should be raising red flags to parent company Singapore Airlines and to the aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.

There are several observations that are concerning. First, Scoot is not using antiquated aircraft. These are modern and fairly recent acquisitions. To have so many suffer various technical faults in a short period is surely concerning.

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Scoot to retrain pilots of Taipei flight whose decisions led to drop in cabin pressure

Singapore budget carrier Scoot will be retraining the pilots who operated Flight TR996 from Singapore to Taipei on Sun (Mar 24), after their decisions led to a drop in cabin pressure and the activation of oxygen masks.

In a statement to The Straits Times on Tuesday, Scoot said preliminary investigations revealed that the pilots had made some "procedural decisions" while the plane was descending that contributed to a slight loss of cabin pressure.

While the flight would have continued on safely, the pilots nevertheless decided to deploy the oxygen masks as a precautionary measure, Scoot added.

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Scoot apologises for oxygen mask incident on Taipei flight, pilots to be retrained

One passenger said there was a smell of "burnt wiring" when the oxygen masks were deployed.PHOTO: FACEBOOK

When oxygen masks were deployed on a Scoot flight as it was preparing to land, the passengers were puzzled.

Their confusion turned to concern when the pilot announced that problems with the aircraft had caused a drop in cabin pressure. They were told to put the masks on.

Fear then set in when the Airbus A320 descended rapidly & some passengers noticed a burning smell.

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Scoot flight from Taipei to Singapore delayed for over 10 hours

Scoot passengers travelling from Taipei to Singapore were stuck at the Taoyuan International Airport for more than 10 hours on Sunday (March 24) after they were told that their flight was delayed due to a technical problem.

The Singapore bound flight, TR997, was originally scheduled to depart Taipei, Taiwan, at 2pm local time, but passengers were informed by staff about 30 minutes before takeoff that the flight had been rescheduled to 12.45am on Monday morning.

Responding to queries from TODAY, a Scoot spokesperson said that the preceding Flight TR996 from Singapore to Taipei had been grounded at the Taoyuan International Airport for investigations after oxygen masks were activated during the flight’s descent.

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Scoot's Taipei-Singapore flight turned back due to 'slight vibrations' on board; passengers affected by 18-hour delay

More than 160 passengers on a Singapore-bound Scoot flight from Taipei were affected by a flight delay that saw them return home about 18-and-a-half hours later than scheduled.

The 163 affected passengers landed in Singapore at 6.54pm on Wed (Mar 13), according to flight tracking site Flightradar24.

Scoot Flight TR993, which left Taipei's Taoyuan Airport at 7.36pm on Tuesday, turned back about one-and-a-half hours later.

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Scoot flight to Singapore turns back to Bangkok due to unclaimed bag

A Scoot flight bound for Singapore was forced to turn back to Bangkok an hour into its journey on Wednesday (Jan 30) due to an unaccompanied cabin bag that was unclaimed.

The airline said Scoot flight TR607 landed safely at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport at around 2.10pm local time (3.10pm Singapore time).

“Preliminary investigations revealed that before departure, our ground handling agent had seen an unattended bag in the gatehold room, and handed it to our cabin crew, in the belief that it belonged to one of the passengers from TR607.

related: Scoot flight from Gold Coast to S'pore diverted after passenger causes disruption

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295 passengers affected after Scoot flight from Melbourne to Singapore cancelled due to technical issues

Two hundred and ninety-five passengers on a Scoot flight from Melbourne to Singapore were left stranded for at least five hours on Sun (Jan 27), after their flight was cancelled.

Flight TR19 was due to leave Melbourne at 1.20pm locally, and was supposed to arrive in Singapore at 6.45pm local time.

In response to queries from The Straits Times on Sunday, the budget airline said that TR19 had to be grounded in Melbourne Airport for rectification works due to a technical issue.

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Scoot flight from Gold Coast to Singapore diverted after passenger causes disruption

A Scoot flight heading to Singapore from Australia's Gold Coast was diverted to Sydney Airport on Monday (Jan 21) after an Australian man caused disruption on board.

Flight TR7 was diverted to Sydney Airport about 1 hour and 20 minutes into its journey.

"During boarding and take-off, the passenger appeared normal. After take-off, he began to disturb surrounding passengers," Scoot said in a statement.

related:
Scoot flight turned back to Changi Airport due to weather radar fault
Technical issue with Scoot plane grounds Bangkok passengers for 29 hours

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Scoot flight turned back to Changi Airport due to weather radar fault

A Scoot airplane was forced to turn back to Changi Airport less than an hour into its flight to Melbourne on Tue (Jan 8) due to a fault in its weather radar.

Responding to Channel NewsAsia's queries, the airline said the Boeing 787-8 landed back in Singapore at about 12.49pm - just 48 minutes after take-off.

"Due to a fault detected with the aircraft's weather radar component after take-off, Scoot flight TR24 scheduled to depart Singapore for Melbourne on 8 Jan at 11am local time had to turn back to Singapore after 48 minutes into the flight," said Scoot.

related:
Scoot passengers stranded in Taipei on New Year's Eve after flight to S'pore delayed
"Never again" - Scoot passengers arrive in Singapore after 56-hour delay

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Scoot flight turns back to Changi soon after take-off

In the latest operational hiccup to hit Scoot, a Singapore-Melbourne flight which left Changi Airport yesterday morning had to make a U-turn shortly after take-off.

Flight TR24, which departed at 11am, was forced to return 48 minutes into the flight after pilots discovered a fault with the aircraft's weather radar component.

Confirming the incident, a Scoot spokesman told The Straits Times that the Boeing 787 landed safely in Singapore at 12.49pm.

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S’pore-bound Scoot flight from Greece delayed two days, passengers stranded

Barely a day after a Bangkok-bound Scoot flight from Changi Airport was delayed by 7 hours, passengers on another flight by the airline were hit by another delay on Monday (Nov 26), this time by 29 hours.

Flight TR869 was scheduled to depart from Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport for Singapore at 4.25pm on Monday, but was retimed to 10.10pm on Tuesday.

The airline said the plane was scheduled to depart from Tokyo for Singapore via Bangkok, when it encountered technical difficulties.

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Scoot flight to Bangkok delayed 7 hours at Changi Airport due to technical issue

Passengers on a Scoot flight to Bangkok on Sun (Nov 25) were stranded at Changi Airport for nearly seven hours due to a technical issue with the aircraft.

Flight TR616 was due to depart the airport's Terminal 2 at 5.30pm, but took off only at 12.28am, after travellers were transferred to a replacement aircraft.

As a result of this, the return Bangkok-Singapore flight was also delayed for about six hours.

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S’pore-bound Scoot flight from Greece delayed two days, passengers stranded

Passengers on a Scoot flight bound for Singapore have been stranded in Greece for more than 2 days after a technical fault saw them boarding and disembarking the aircraft multiple times.

Flight TR713, with 321 passengers, was originally scheduled to depart Athens at 11.20am local time on Dec 18, but has so far been delayed three times. It is due to depart Athens on Thursday (Dec 20) at 1.05pm local time (7.05pm Singapore time).

A Channel NewsAsia reader said that multiple Singaporean families were affected by the delay. The reader said: "We have many Singaporean families here stranded at Athens International Airport. We were supposed to take (the) Scoot flight TR713 that was scheduled to depart on Dec 18 at 1120hrs back to Singapore. But as of now, Dec 19, all of us are still stranded in the airport. It has been more than 24 hours."

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Technical issue delays second Scoot flight in two days, this time by 29 hours