I refer to the two articles by Glenn Schloss about Cathay Pacific, which appeared in the Sunday Morning Post on July 16. As a Hong Kong resident since 1968 and a former frequent flyer with Cathay Pacific, I would like to add my own recent experiences of flying with 'our airline'.
When Cathay Pacific joined the Asia Miles programme last year, it held a special promotion whereby a passenger flying with five Asia Miles partner airlines (including Cathay), between September 1 and December 31, 1999, would receive up to 100,000 miles bonus points (for flying first class).
I promptly made my reservations for a round-the-world, first-class ticket using all five partner airlines.
On the first leg, Bangkok to San Francisco, my baggage was misplaced and was not found until 24 hours after I arrived in the US. As I was due to fly to New York the next day, I was told by American Airlines (Cathay's San Francisco agent) to follow up with Cathay for compensation when I returned to Hong Kong. When I did return and received my Marco Polo mileage statements, I noticed I had been awarded 50,000 instead of 100,000 points. On November 20, I wrote to Cathay's deputy chairman and chief executive David Turnbull and the manager of Marco Polo Club lounges, Kester Yim, to complain, but they did not reply. I sent other letters by post office courier and finally received a reply on April 7, from Mr Yim, who said that several segments of my trip on British Airways were credited to my father's account.
Cathay had made a clerical error and in May the Marco Polo Club wrote to me to say I would receive the mileage due, but this has not yet happened. Furthermore, I have been offered no compensation for my luggage. Perhaps Cathay Pacific should put more effort into taking care of those customers who have paid for the privilege of Marco Polo membership, rather than offer free membership to Legislative Councillors who know better than to fly with Cathay.
One only has to spend a few moments talking to the cabin crew to realise how low company morale is. It is no wonder passengers feel neglected. Cathay spent millions upgrading its first-class sleeper seats, yet more than half the time its video cassette movie system does not operate. I am sick and tired of receiving compensation in the form of US$50 worth of coupons for in-flight purchases. Why not keep several Sony Watchman video players on board as a back-up for when the system does not work? In-flight sale coupons do not offer entertainment on a long flight.