Cathay Pacific pilots fear a sick-leave blacklist of cockpit crew could be introduced in a move they say would be 'negligent and reckless'. Airline managers had discussed sickness among cockpit crew and had decided officers deemed to be taking too much would be blacklisted, the pilots said. Captain Ted Pleavin, president of the Aircrew Officers' Association, which represents most of the more than 1,000 Cathay pilots, has written to airline chairman Peter Sutch on what he called a matter of 'extreme gravity'. In the letter, Captain Pleavin said pilots could be given 'incentive and disincentive' treatment. Those with good sick-leave records might get more guaranteed days off. But those thought to have taken too many sick days might be put on reserve, meaning they must stay in Hong Kong, or could lose promotion or their jobs. Captain Pleavin told Mr Sutch: 'Any attempt to coerce aircrew, either by reward, intimidation or threat, into reporting for duty . . . constitutes a criminal offence and such actions can only be described as both negligent and reckless.' Pilots had been coerced or intimidated by managers when they reported unfit for duty, Captain Pleavin wrote, but his association had treated the reports as isolated. 'This can no longer be the case,' he wrote. 'The actions of these managers constitute an immediate threat to the operational safety of Cathay Pacific Airways.' He called on Mr Sutch to promise that no such policies to 'manage' sick leave would be implemented. Cathay Pacific spokeswoman Quince Chong Wai-yan confirmed Mr Sutch had received the letter and would be replying. She said the amount of sick leave taken by crew was of concern, but denied there was a blacklist of offenders or any scheme to punish those taking too many days off. 'We are concerned about the high level [of sick leave] particularly among the cockpit crew,' she said. 'We are monitoring the situation closely but at the moment we have no such policies. If it comes to an alarming situation, as in any company, if it's an alarming situation we have to look into different options.' Ms Chong said she could not say how serious the current level of cockpit crew taking sick leave was. Staff were aware that it was an issue the company was addressing. Any new policies would be introduced after consultation with them.