Cathay staff rush to take unpaid leave despite union fears
Cathay Pacific has been inundated with more than 1,600 requests for unpaid leave from cabin crew and pilots after making a controversial offer of unsalaried time off to combat the economic downturn.
But the two main unions representing Cathay staff have urged members not to take unpaid leave, saying members have been denied regular time off, and have warned staff they will shoulder the burden for absent colleagues.
By yesterday, cabin crew had applied for a total of more than 50,000 days of unpaid leave in 2009 - almost a full week for every flight attendant - while pilots had applied for more than 5,000 days of unpaid leave, the airline said.
Applications for the cost-cutting scheme announced at the end of November have come from 1,062 flight attendants, some of whom have made more than one application, and 200 pilots.
A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said the deluge of applications had come because many staff wanted to 'take a break, enjoy a longer vacation, spend more time with the family or concentrate on studies'.
However, the Flight Attendants Union said the rush for unpaid leave demonstrated how many flight attendants were unable to get the normal time off they wanted.
Chairwoman Becky Kwan Siu-wah said: 'Our people have been working very hard because our flights are always full. With our job, you really don't have a life and you can't normally plan for time off or to do a course or study leave.
'Now it seems that in order to have your leave when you want it, you have to pay for it by taking unpaid leave.'
Ms Kwan warned that the scheme would put extra strain on cabin crews. 'If they say that flight attendants are not going to have to work harder when there have been 50,000 days of unpaid leave applied for, then either somebody is lying or somebody has terribly miscalculated the manpower situation.'
The Aircrew Officers Association has sent out a circular to pilots telling them: 'We would suggest members explore every avenue towards taking their contractual entitlement to leave prior to applying for unpaid leave.'
The Cathay spokeswoman insisted the scheme was 'entirely voluntary' and said flight attendants' regular leave had been allocated for 2009 before unpaid leave was offered.
'Capacity has been growing at an average of 6 per cent per annum in recent years but has been adjusted to just under 1 per cent for 2009 - effectively zero growth - as a result of reduced demand,' she said.
Slow growing
Cathay Pacific's capacity has risen 6 per cent annually in recent years, but that may change
It is forecasting growth next year of less than: 1%
