Cathay’s pilot exodus persists as pandemic curbs hit morale

One Cathay Pacific pilot had been with the airline for greater than 5 years and deliberate a protracted profession.

However on the finish of September, he give up the Hong Kong provider, packed up his belongings and headed to Australia for a lower-paying job at a flying academy.

Cathay and its long-suffering pilots have been massive casualties of the pandemic, as extreme job cuts and punishing Covid-19 restrictions have disrupted operations and hit income.

“I simply wanted a break from every thing . . . I don’t wish to work for Cathay anymore,” stated the pilot, who requested to not be named. He added the fixed Covid assessments and restrictions had sapped his morale and left him drained and confused.

Working circumstances had been badly disrupted when Cathay sacked 8,500 individuals, nearly 1 / 4 of its employees, on the peak of the pandemic in 2020.

A flood of pilot resignations adopted a yr later due to anger over pay cuts of as much as 60 per cent and irritation with robust Covid-19 curbs.

By the third quarter of this yr, pilot headcount had slipped to a complete of two,412, in keeping with an inner doc seen by the Monetary Instances, down greater than 1 / 4 from 2019, with a lot of Cathay’s most senior employees — captains and first officers — amongst these having give up. Between 30 and 50 pilots are nonetheless resigning every month, in keeping with the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Affiliation, the pilots’ union.

A lot of the discontent has stemmed from “closed-loop” rosters, which concerned finishing a number of flights in stretches of as much as 4 weeks with out being allowed dwelling, adopted by necessary resort quarantines.

This meant not seeing mates or household for as much as seven weeks. In whole, employees spent 73,000 nights in quarantine final yr, the airline stated.

“You’re in full darkness for 5, six days,” stated one other pilot, who has flown with the airline for greater than 10 years and didn’t wish to be named. “You sleep all day American time, and you’re awake all evening Hong Kong time,” he added, referring to his North America journeys.

The widespread discontent amongst pilots meant different carriers, together with Qantas and Qatar Airways, had been in a position to poach them, stated Paul Weatherilt, chair of the HKAOA pilots’ union.

The airline is trying to recruit greater than 700 pilots and a pair of,000 cabin crew over the following yr. In its first cabin crew recruitment drive in October, it acquired greater than 1,000 functions, regardless of a primary month-to-month wage of HK$9,100 (US$1,160), decrease than pre-pandemic ranges, for a flight attendant.

Cathay stated it had adequate pilots and cabin crew to help operations and the “purpose was to guard as many roles as potential, whereas assembly our obligations to the Hong Kong aviation hub and our clients”.

It additionally stated final month it could be including greater than 500,000 seats and about 700 and 1,200 new flights in November and December respectively, primarily to Japan and the UK.

As well as, the airline has been bringing again a few of its fleet, parked through the pandemic in plane storage areas within the deserts of Australia.

It’s hoping to succeed in one-third of its pre-pandemic passenger capability by the tip of the yr, a lot decrease than rivals resembling Singapore Airways, which expects to realize over 80 per cent of its pre-Covid ranges by December.

Ronald Lam, Cathay’s chief buyer and industrial officer who takes over as chief government in January, instructed the FT final month that it could take one other two years — till the tip of 2024 or early 2025 — to succeed in pre-pandemic capability once more.

The airline, recognized for its premium lounges and loyalty schemes, additionally faces questions on its id after the price cuts.

In search of new income streams after struggling through the pandemic, it aimed to reposition itself as a premium journey way of life model with a deal with ecommerce.

“You’ve got sufficient in your plate when you find yourself attempting to run an airline and simply be a superb transportation model,” a former government stated.

“Operating a premium way of life model is difficult. It’s actually, actually exhausting . . . significantly now persons are going to be again flying once more in massive numbers.”

Ultimately, the airline ended up looking for methods to save cash because it tried to scale back the variety of cabin crew on every flight and decrease the price of some in-flight companies resembling drinks supplied to passengers, stated air crew and former executives.

Cathay insisted in a response that the variety of cabin crew onboard flights was “comparable with the market and properly above regulatory necessities”.

Amongst sustainability initiatives, it stated it modified some drinks companies to scale back the usage of plastic, and it had “additional enhanced meals and beverage choices” in enterprise class.

“Sadly, it’s what it’s. Cathay has gone from a Rolex to a Casio,” one of many pilots stated. “I don’t suppose you will note an enormous restoration for a protracted, very long time.”