Being Hong Kong's flagship airline must seem like a real priesthood. That's what the directors of Cathay Pacific which are constantly facing political, social and economic crises.
From 2019, Cathay had to adapt to the takeover of Hong Kong by the Chinese authorities - which led to a restructuring of the airline's management. Then the Covid crisis paralysed the carrier for 30 months, forcing it to halt all its flights. It is now facing a shortage of pilots. A situation for which the carrier's management seems largely responsible, according to the local media.
A dozen flights cancelled a day until February
Since December, the Hong Kong carrier has been faced with a defection of its pilots. Many have called in sick, forcing the company to reduce the number of flights. On average, the company is cancelling a dozen flights a day.
According to the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's leading English-language daily, cancellations mainly concerned regional flights. The SCMP recorded that between 8 and 11 January, Cathay has cancelled 10 flights to Taipei, 9 flights to Singapore and 8 frequencies to Bangkok, Kaohsiung and Beijing. In all, almost a hundred flights have been cancelled since the Christmas holidays.
The airline has already warned that a similar number of flights will be cancelled on a daily basis until 20 February.
Yes, of course, Cathay Pacific claims that more than 95% of its passengers have been transferred to other flights or refunded.. But many passengers are reporting on social networks that they are finding it difficult to change their flights. This is due to the saturation of reservation systems.
However, the SCMP explains that the problems go much deeper than this staff shortage. After reducing its workforce by 8,500 by 2020, the company is struggling to recruit and train. The carrier has dismissed around 1,000 of its 4,000 pilots.
What's more, Cathay Pacific pilot unions cite difficult working conditions. With the Covid crisis, pilots saw their pay cut to 40% and their working hours extended. The unions are talking about pilots flying up to 100 hours a month, instead of an average of 85 hours.
What's more, the abolition of numerous benefits for pilots - such as housing assistance in Hong Kong, a city reputed to have the most expensive rents in the world - has done nothing to encourage them. Since 2020, according to Singapore's Strait Times, another thousand pilots have left the company.
Restoring its image
Cathay is therefore going on the offensive. The carrier says it is speeding up the training of new pilots to deal with the shortage. From now on, this will be reduced from 4,000 to 3,000 hours for new pilots. This will enable them to be integrated more quickly into network operations.
The carrier is also under pressure from the Hong Kong government. John Lee, the territory's Chief Executive, has indicated that he would like Cathay to resolve this crisis as quickly as possible. It is damaging the former British colony's image as a hub.
Cathay must act quickly. It had promised to return to 100% of its capacity Covid front airplanes by the end of 2024. It's a gamble that's now looking pretty daring.
