Sacked Engineer Wins $28,000 After Rebooting Singapore Airlines Jet

A veteran Australian aircraft engineer has been awarded AU$40,000, roughly $28,044, in compensation after being sacked following a 17-minute delay to a Singapore Airlines flight he was accused of causing by powering down the aircraft to clear fault messages. The engineer worked for Heston MRO, a maintenance provider serving carriers including Singapore Airlines.

The engineer carried out the reboot in agreement with the flight's pilots, and the procedure resolved the issues flagged by the aircraft's diagnostic messages. Singapore Airlines nonetheless argued the engineer had breached protocol and acted on instinct, and said the 17-minute delay had resulted in customer dissatisfaction.

Heston MRO launched an internal investigation after the airline raised concerns and found the engineer had not violated protocol, supporting his account that the reboot was a normal procedure. Singapore Airlines was unwilling to accept that finding and demanded a second review of the incident.

Singapore Airlines subsequently contacted Heston MRO to withdraw the engineer's permit, citing what it described as mishandling incidents, according to reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald. He was later dismissed after the airline rejected the outcome of the first investigation.

A workplace tribunal ultimately ruled in the engineer's favour, awarding him AU$40,000 in compensation. The tribunal decided against ordering his reinstatement, factoring in that he had since taken on work with another airline.

The case highlights the tension maintenance engineers can face between airline customer service expectations and standard troubleshooting procedures, particularly when a fault-clearing method that resolves an issue quickly still results in a short flight delay.