Few major airlines in the world have been hit as hard by the coronavirus pandemic, or worked so hard to recover from it, as Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, Cathay Pacific Airways. The company’s business has been devastated by some of the industry’s broadest flight bans and quarantine requirements. And the pandemic was not the beginning of Cathay’s predicament.
In 2019, when Hong Kong was thrown into turmoil by a pro-democracy movement, Cathay Pacific was caught in a crossfire with the Chinese government. Airport sit-ins attended by thousands of demonstrators, including employees of the airline Cathay Pacific, canceled or delayed flights. Chinese authorities threatened to ban entry to China for crew members who took part in the protests or expressed support for the protests.
Confusion spread within Cathay Pacific. The company’s chief executive and chairman both resigned, and new leaders began cracking down on employee remarks and social media posts that could anger China.
In 2020, Cathay Pacific closed its regional division, Cathay Dragonair, amid a pandemic that brought business to a halt. Parked 70 unused planes in the desert of Alice Springs, Australia, dismissed It has 5,300 employees and is based in Hong Kong. Some crew members had to enter the country for three to four weeks as the city extended mandatory quarantine.closed loopWork shifts occurred, requiring weeks away from home, and employee morale was devastating.
Cathay Pacific still struggles to hire enough pilots, flight crew and other staff to compete with other airlines. Chief Executive Ronald Lamb said in a video message to employees in January that competitors were “getting leaner, healthier and trying to steal customers from us.” said it was trying to rally its employees on a plan to “survive and thrive.” Cathay Pacific only returned to 50% of its pre-pandemic capacity in March.
The problem continues. Lam told Cathay Pacific staff in an internal memo last week that the airline had fired three employees after an audio recording went viral in which a flight attendant mocked a passenger’s English. Ms Lam said the employees had caused “significant damage to the image of Hong Kong and Cathay”.
The episode was a reminder of the delicate challenges Cathay Pacific faces in navigating its relationship with China. China is an important market for airlines, but the country’s economy is still recovering after being closed to Hong Kong and other countries for nearly three years.Before the pandemic, Cathay Airways from Hong Kong 119 locations in 35 countries, including 26 destinations in China. Convenient flight times from cities across China allowed passengers to change planes in Hong Kong at night and arrive in the United States or Europe by mid-morning or early afternoon.
When the Omicron epidemic reached its peak in January 2022 and the Hong Kong government banned incoming flights from countries such as the US, Australia and the UK, the company was operating at just 2% of its passenger capacity. was
The airline said in a statement that it aims to return capacity by 70% to 80 destinations by the end of 2023, with 160 weekly flights to 16 airports in mainland China.
Even after Hong Kong lifted its COVID-19-related rules and quarantine requirements, the Chinese government’s unyielding influence over the former British colony continues to bolster Hong Kong’s decades-long reputation as an attractive and bohemian business destination. still threaten
Just as Hong Kong was the world’s gateway to China, Cathay Pacific was a pioneer in connecting emerging economies in Asia with New York, London and Paris. Founded in 1946, it was one of the city’s most important brands, known for its punctuality and premium service.of the airport Third runway opened last year This is in response to the Chinese government’s plan to combine nine cities in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong into a technology hub known as the Greater Bay Area.
Cathay Pacific said it could not expect a full recovery until next year. The immediate task is to restore the number of pilots and cabin crew and increase the operational capacity.
To cut costs, Cathay Pacific cut pilots’ base salaries by about 40 percent, much to the ire of many crew members. In January, the Cathay Pacific Flight Attendants Union announced that flight attendants would perform duties beyond the scope of the company, after reducing the number of Cathay Pacific flight attendants and shortening recovery times between long flights. introduced a “work by the rules” campaign to prevent guidelines. Hong Kong Airports Authority officials said in May that Cathay’s new pay structure had effectively discouraged them from completing flights ahead of schedule, leading to a trend of lower taxiing speeds among Cathay pilots. said to have seen
“We were told we had to save cash, but if we didn’t end up with an airline, saving cash wouldn’t do us much good,” said the Hong Kong Air Crew Association, a union of pilots. said Paul Wesarito, chairman of He has been a pilot for Cathay Pacific for nearly 30 years. “And that’s kind of where they are now. They own half the airlines.”
Prior to 2019, the airline had 3,840 pilots. Since then, 1,900 have resigned, according to the Air Crew Association. The number of captains, the most senior pilots, has been cut in half. And Cathay Pacific has rehired dozens of pilots from its Cathay Dragon division, which closed in 2021 and 2022, but many had to take pay cuts or demote when accepting offers. Airline shortages during the pandemic have slowed progress in the training necessary for chief and second officers to become captains. Senior pilot trainer and flight simulator instructor quit.
Despite the struggle, some industry analysts are optimistic that Cathay Pacific will recover. The company last year reported its first annual profit since 2019. The company’s flights are about 90% full, an improvement over pre-pandemic, and soaring ticket prices are contributing to earnings. Freighter business kept airlines alive during the pandemic.
But for Cathay Pacific, no market is more important or potentially more difficult at the moment than China.
The latest trouble stemmed from complaints from a passenger traveling from the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu to Hong Kong on May 21, who posted the following: recording A flight attendant heard laughter in the galley about a passenger who apparently requested a “carpet” instead of a blanket. “You can’t get a blanket if you can’t say ‘blanket’ in English,” one flight attendant said in the recording.
The recording dominated discussion on Chinese social media, with people posting about what they believed to be a history of disrespect for mainland passengers by the airline’s flight attendants. State media Xinhua criticized the airline for “arrogance,” “bad service” and a lack of integrity. An editorial headline read, “Cathay Pacific won’t fly far unless old habits are fixed.”
Hong Kong’s top government official, John Lee, also joined the rebuke. “The behavior of the flight attendants hurt the feelings of compatriots in Hong Kong and the mainland, and destroyed Hong Kong’s traditional culture and values of respect and courtesy,” he said in a Facebook post.
Cathay Pacific apologized on Weibo on Tuesday and said it would open an investigation. By Wednesday, three flight attendants had been sacked.
“We needed to react and act quickly. It was necessary to protect the interests of the company and, by extension, the interests of all employees,” Lam said in an internal memo to employees on Thursday. Stated.
He added that the remarks were a blow to the airline’s reputation. “Although this incident has brought a setback to our rebuilding journey, let us accept it as a valuable lesson,” he wrote.
