The Hong Kong Aircrew Officer Association (HKAOA), which represents 2,100 of the 2,900 pilots employed by Cathay Pacific, has criticised the airline’s claims that ongoing work-to-rule action has derailed its growth plans (see here).
According to the South China Morning Post, the HKAOA’s general secretary Chris Beebe accused Cathay Pacific management of passing blame, and stated that the underlying reason for the airline’s stifled growth was the “gross mismanagement of costs with respect to fuel hedging and inciting employee discontent”.
In a letter sent out on Friday, when Cathay Pacific announced the rebranding of its sister carrier Dragonair, Beebe said: “Do not allow the pomp and ceremony of the rebrand of Cathay Pacific to avert your attention from the reality that the current problems will continue at the airline until it makes a sea change in the manner it chooses to work with its employees.”
The letter also asserted that Cathay Pacific had reduced the number of pilots on certain flights to London, while reducing training and making “callous attempts to question fatigued pilots who are quite rightly reporting unfit for duty”.
In response to the HKAOA accusations, a Cathay Pacific spokesperson was quoted by the Post as saying: “The ongoing industrial campaign places a strain on our resources and our ability to grow in 2016… We’ve given the union every opportunity through exhaustive talks and offers of compromise, to solve the issues on the table, but they have not always responded positively.”
For more information, visit cathaypacific.com
Clement Huang
In a letter sent out on Friday, when Cathay Pacific announced the rebranding of its sister carrier Dragonair, Beebe said: “Do not allow the pomp and ceremony of the rebrand of Cathay Pacific to avert your attention from the reality that the current problems will continue at the airline until it makes a sea change in the manner it chooses to work with its employees.”
The letter also asserted that Cathay Pacific had reduced the number of pilots on certain flights to London, while reducing training and making “callous attempts to question fatigued pilots who are quite rightly reporting unfit for duty”.
In response to the HKAOA accusations, a Cathay Pacific spokesperson was quoted by the Post as saying: “The ongoing industrial campaign places a strain on our resources and our ability to grow in 2016… We’ve given the union every opportunity through exhaustive talks and offers of compromise, to solve the issues on the table, but they have not always responded positively.”
For more information, visit cathaypacific.com
Clement Huang 
