[cwoodward]

Starting in November, Cathay Pacific will gradually take back the full management of its HK lounges.
All front-of-house customer contact positions in Hong Kong will be gradually transferred from the current contractor Sodexo to Cathay Pacific in phases starting November 2023.
Some Sodexo staff will I understand be able to apply for the newly created Cathay positions.

Cathay reportedly announced last week “This initiative is an opportunity for us to deliver premium service to our valuable customers the Cathay Pacific way at key front-of-house roles, and align service excellence across our customer touchpoints.”

It appears that that the F&B and cleaning will continue to be provided by Sodexo, but Cathay will directly employ all passenger-facing lounge staff including servers etc.

The Pier First Class will be the first to return to full Cathay control with other lounges following.

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AndrewinHK

[esselle]

Interesting move. I always thought the original set up with Peninsula worked better than the Sodexo arrangement. However, I had always assumed the Cathay uniformed staff at the entrances were CX employees. Was this not the case?

[cwoodward]

I am not certain ‘esselle’ but anyone in full ground staff Cathay uniform are Cathay staff.
Others including the restaurant reception staff in black I believe are not.

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esselle

[christ]

Is this meant to be good or bad news? Hopefully good as Cathay will be in control. I enjoy Cathay’s HK lounges as a space but i do not think the staff compare to T3 in LHR or say Qatar.

Out of interest, is the LHR lounge Cathay staff as their service is exceptional?

[AndrewinHK]

@christ I think this will be very good news, the lounges under Sodexo got worse but are still far better than most. I often found the serving staff to be quite surly. I have been VERY impressed with the recent CX moves, the lowering of qualifying levels again for frequent flyers, is a very smart move and enhances loyalty when many have been complaining about prices, standards, etc. I just landed on CX252, luckily in F, and the flight was impeccable. I have complete confidence that management is making concerted efforts to enhance anything that may have slipped in recent years.

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christ

[christ]

@AndrewinHK – glad you had a good flight – it must have been quite expensive in first! I hope you managed to enjoy the cathay first lounge in London as it is still one of my favourites. Re Hk lounges – sounds a positive then!

[AndrewinHK]

@Christ as I often do, I asked at check-in if any seats in first were available, it happens 1 was, and so I used miles to upgrade. Yes, lovely lounge as always, I managed a quick glass of champagne, not enough time on this occasion to enjoy fully.

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cwoodward

[Author]

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