A Cathay Pacific manager has admitted that instability in pilots' rosters - which helped spark their ongoing work-to-rule protest - is causing fatigue and damaging the quality of training.
In an internal memo seen by the South China Morning Post, Cathay's flight training manager for Airbus crew, Captain Gus Larard, accepted there would be 'long-term effects' on pilots.
Cathay's official line has been that while demand on pilots has increased with the company's expansion plans, the pilots' action is an attempt to renegotiate last year's pay deal rather than a genuine problem with rosters. Pilots and their union said yesterday the memo backed their push for urgent changes to the 'diabolical' roster structure.
The memo states: 'Once again, thank you to you all for the dedication - well above and beyond the call of duty in many cases - in helping out with the high number of late roster changes lately. The long-term effect of this roster instability on fatigue, family life and training quality is understood, and is being made clear to those concerned.' The memo was issued on June 26, a week before pilots' union members voted overwhelmingly to launch work-to-rule action in protest at their rosters. 'This is the people doing the training, so if it's affecting them, imagine what it's doing to the other guys,' one flier said yesterday.
Yesterday, the Post reported that Cathay had blocked pilots' access to their colleagues' rosters, a move seen by crew as an attempt to encourage and protect any 'scabs' who break ranks on the work-to-rule agreement.
Pilots have complained that the company has drawn up an 'aggressive' roster for August - with only the legal minimum number of guaranteed days off and more days on stand-by - and is preventing them from swapping shifts with colleagues.
