Cathay backs down on masks for cabin crew
Cathay Pacific yesterday backed down on its refusal to allow flight attendants to wear face masks after Secretary for Health York Chow Yat-ngok appealed for it to respond to staff fears over swine flu.
The airline announced its change of policy hours after Dr Chow said he believed that if airline staff wanted to wear masks, airlines should be flexible and allow them to.
The U-turn came after the chairwoman of the 5,000-member Flight Attendants Union sent out an appeal to members to defy the ban after Hong Kong's first swine flu case was confirmed on Friday evening.
Becky Kwan Siu-wa had written to Dr Chow asking for his support in the union's demands for cabin crew to be allowed to wear masks and gloves.
A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said: 'In light of the escalating concerns with the global threat ... we understand some of our staff may be anxious about the situation and wish to wear a mask.
'Therefore, for personal considerations, staff choosing to wear masks may do so. They should discuss this with their supervisors.'
Earlier, Dr Chow had told reporters: '[If] staff actually feel unwell and uncomfortable not wearing a mask, I think they [employers] should be more flexible and allow them to wear [face masks].'
Responding to the news, Ms Kwan said: 'We are very pleased. Before this happened we sent an e-mail to members telling them to put their own personal safety first and wear masks and gloves if they wanted to.'
