[AMcWhirter]

Reuters reports that Cathay Pacific needs to address staff and resource shortages and raise pay to boost morale, according to the flight attendants union.

Apparently “three staff members were dismissed for allegedly mocking passengers who could not speak English.”

Last Sunday a passenger on flight CX987 from Chengdu to Hong Kong wrote in an online post that flight attendants had made fun of passengers asking for a “carpet” rather than a “blanket” in English.

The incident went viral on mainland China social media.

This then prompted a torrent of criticism by Chinese state media and Hong Kong government officials including leader John Lee.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/cathay-needs-boost-staff-morale-union-says-after-blanket-carpet-furore-2023-05-25/

1 user thanked author for this post.

christ

[cwoodward]

It is of course the unions ‘day in the sun’ and once you get past the headline rhetoric this is 95% about money of course although they are cleverly spinning a story that ignores the fact that some of there number were justifiably fired for rudeness and contempt towards mainland Chinese passengers. My wife is Asian and we have experienced this sort rudeness on occasion over the past thirty years from Cantonese crew until they realise that my wife is traveling with a European. Not often but it happens particularly if we doing a short hop in economy.

Unusually for HKG this is a fairly aggressive union but in my view not a wisely lead one but at this moment they believe that they have leverage and with these world wide headlines they of course do – short term.
Over the years Cathay has had a lot of very good crew from around Asia particularly Thailand and they were excellent being much more natural and warm in the role than are the local Cantonese ( as is well illustrated by the present unpleasantness) but the union threatened to strike unless the management agreed to more or less local crew only.

Cathay train the cabin crew well and this is acknowledged throughout the industry but they have needed to take on a lot of new local Hong Kong crew quickly since the 3 year lock-down ended and this is fundamentally the cause of the current issue

I hesitate to say that they are militant but the present leadership comes close to it and they will get something out of this short-term .

1 user thanked author for this post.

AndrewinHK

[AndrewinHK]

The current language based issues are also exacerbated by CX no longer being able to schedule Taiwanese crew onto China Mainland flights. Taiwanese crew (who are Mandarin speaking) were hired in fairly large numbers for just this role, to make sure you have an appropriate number of native speakers on certain flights. It is quite evident to me of the falling standards (albeit from lofty levels), the crew generally are still very good, but with lots of young recruits, on low pay, you can’t blame them for not showing the same passion as older hires. That being said, rudeness and a dismissive attitude towards paying passengers is never acceptable, all rather juvenile and blown out of proportion, but unfortunately we live in an overly sensitive world, and China Mainland does tend to get vexed rather easily by any perceived slight, so CX/HK will always react in an overly kowtowing manner

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cwoodward

[stevescoots]

I have several friends there ground side who have worked 25-30 years both in the airport and and CX city, had dinner with some a couple of days ago when i got into town and they are all looking at early retirement due to the workload created by staff shortages and new staff coming in not able , or willing to work to the highly regarded CX standards of a few years ago. Its interesting what is said about the Union because from my friends views the Union is useless. I cannot speak for crew as i do not know any

[cwoodward]

The staff shortages experienced by many airlines when they began re opening after the pandemic are now biting hard in Hong Kong and at Cathay particularly being the largest operator.
The problem will pass but it is painful and damaging while it lasts and to a great degree unavoidable.

[stevescoots]

[postquote quote=1364242]

Seems to hit them globally as well, meet some Hk based ground staff I recognized at LHR the other week that had been sent to UK on secondment as they (like others) are finding it very difficult to get staff at LHR so they have had to send Hk ones adding further strains to HKG

[AndrewinHK]

Yes they did the same in Sapporo, HK ground staff sent up on secondment, a costly endeavour.

[TominScotland]

While it is certainly true that there is a global shortage of trained and skilled airline staff in all areas, it is also important to recognise wider changes and pressures within specific labour markets which impact at a national level. So Brexit has undoubtedly impacted on the service-focused labour market in the UK and, along with extensive COVD-induced early retirals, has had real impacts on the airline industry here. Recently, I highlighted reports of a politically-induced brain drain from Hong Kong which, I argued, will have long-term skills/ talent recruitment consequences across internationally-focused businesses such as airlines (including Cathay). This was dismissed as a ‘non-business travel issue’ but, indeed, it is if it impacts, long-term and strategically, on a provider’s ability to offer high quality service to its premium market. Negative publicity such as that reported in this post will certainly not help in attracting the best to work in the airline industry in Hong Kong. Only time will tell what the long-term impact will be.

[cwoodward]

Against the 10 million plus population in HK the few that have left for the UK were mostly unskilled and will soon be replaced.

Any problem is temporary in the context of these things and will be handled well by an experienced management team at Cathay.

Hong Kong recovers much faster than does the UK – already the shortage of mini bus drivers has been covered by 500 being allowed into HK to cover the shortage – they return across the border after their working day – often a thirty minute trip.
Domestic property prices are on the rise again with new releases selling out fast now. Empty retail properties are being re-let -all the empty large retail space along Nathan road has been re -let in the past few weeks and it is the same on the Island.

At least 100 pilots have returned the the airline from Australia and New Zealand – more are needed, a cabin crew base has opened and is already operating in London with two more to follow in Asia I was told. The local union is perhaps pushing too hard for their own good.

It was not so very long ago that Cathay had intrigant problems with militant local cabin crew and dismissed all of them on a Friday only to re hire 95% of them again on the following Tuesday on sensible terms.

As I say a short term problems for Cathay

[TominScotland]

“Against the 10 million plus population in HK the few that have left for the UK were mostly unskilled and will soon be replaced”. Not so sure, cwoodward…..

Hong Kong risks an irreversible tech brain drain

[AlanOrton1]

I wish HK no ill whatsoever but to claim ‘the few that have left for the UK were mostly unskilled’ is nonsense.
Those that left are highly likely to have had the financial means to move, which suggests they are far from unskilled.
We have relatively new neighbours here in the UK that made a choice to leave, purchase their house, have their kids in schooling here. This has been repeated many times over around the UK.
I very much hope HK, CX etc recover well.

2 users thanked author for this post.

sparkyflier, AndrewinHK

[stevescoots]

[postquote quote=1364308]

I agree, there are at least 3 families close to me in my UK home (a back water), certainly they are professionals and 2 of them I have personally spoken to are working on getting recertified in UK to go back to their previous careers.

Anyway, back on topic this is a global issue that chronic low pay in the airline industry , and the service industry in general means people are not going back to it when they have other less pressure options. Pay peanuts get…well you know the saying. Staff retention is efficiency and a longer term cost saving, something most management forget.

2 users thanked author for this post.

AndrewinHK, AlanOrton1

[cwoodward]

AlanOrton1

I believe that I am correct in posting re most of those that left Hong Kong for the UK being unskilled and facts back up that statement and are publicly available.
My post is far from being nonsense Mr Orton and I would not have made the statement unless I knew it to be correct.
Some professionals certainly left Hong Kong but few of these went to the UK.
Having the financial ability to move has nothing what so ever to being professional and your statement shows a significant lack of understanding of how Chinese families function, save and grow their wealth.
Probably most here that live in Hong Kong or the UK are aware of the numbers and overall they are not significant and that some left is understandable. The Chinese dislike any sort of upheaval and this sort of thing has happened previously. Prior to 1997 when there was a significant exodus to Canada with over 60% returning within 15 years. A smaller but significant exodus accrued when SARS hit but again most returned.

The same sort doomsday headlines as that posted by Tom in Scotland were prevalent then also and we all can find alarmist internet posts about almost anything in moments but does that make the content fact? Of course not.

Some of those that left Hong Kong for the UK were of course professionals but they were significantly the minority and resilient Hong Kong will continue to prosper unlike sadly the U.K. where things appear to be going from bad to worse if the myriad of internet posts are to be believed.
We at a recent dinner had discussed sending food parcels but decided that perhaps that being written about the dreadful state of things in the UK was perhaps a tad alarmist.

[AndrewinHK]

Cwoodward, your perspective maybe is shaped by who you are surrounded by, but to make a statement such as yours regarding unskilled people, is a in my opinion totally incorrect and again from you a very biased comment in the defence of Hong Kong. I work for an international bank, I work with high net worth individuals, and I can very much confirm a massive number of highly skilled colleagues, and clients have left Hong Kong, and many are families, the data reflects 144,000 have left for the UK in the last 2 years, I would hardly class that as insignificant, and you also incorrectly stated Hong Kong’s population, it is 7.413 million as of 2021, and likely lower than that now. The reality of life in Hong Kong, if one doesn’t involve oneself in politics has changed very little for an expat, although it is very apparent of encroachments at ever increasing speed, be it talk of CCTV in classrooms to weed out crime (I wasn’t aware much crime happened in HK schools), and the endless pursuit of individuals on tenuous charges to do with national security. Don’t get me wrong Hong Kong is a wonderful place, with low tax, low crime, a fantastic public transport network, and airport infrastructure, but one can’t allow misguided, blind patriotism to cloud ones judgement and disparage people who have left with a generalist statement somehow inferring that are low skilled/stupid/poor.

2 users thanked author for this post.

sparkyflier, stevescoots

[cwoodward]

My comment was not biased and was based on fact.
Although I am pleased for you that you have good job in an international bank I prefer not to brag about my position but I own several large business based IN HONG KONG have local grass routes partners and staff have lived here for 45 years. My wife is Asian and one of my sons is married to the daughter of a taxi driver……. and BTW I came her with nothing bar a decent education. I vote conservative read the Daily Telegraph own the family farm (that I inherited a few years back in Berkshire and am not wokey – or
whatever you people call it.
Is it called street cred these days ?

I would much rather that HK was British but it is now a colony of China rather than the UK and China will lagitimatly assert an influence as of course did Britain
However we like living and working here while you as presumably a salesman for as you mention an international bank to those of “high net worth’ who does not like Hong Kong or its Chinese masters leaves me pondering as to why you stay.

If rather than entrench yourself in the wrong belief that those that left Hong Kong were in the majority professional I suggest that you take a look at the several HK gov and British gov websites on the subject that show that the great majority of those leaving were unskilled individuals in the context that would not be deemed ‘professionals’ to an international banker such as yourself.

Of course I am told that we are in great need of professionals like presumably yourself thus although we disagree I do hope that you stay ‘Hong Kong needs you’I am told

[Author]

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