Frontline employees at Cathay Pacific Airways and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines see little to worry about as the city's flag carrier takes control of its smaller rival. 'We think that the deal is just a monetary transaction and a commercial decision,' said Becky Kwan Siu-wa, chairwoman of the Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union. However, the union will raise the issue of possible staffing changes at its next meeting with management representatives during the second week of next month. Many Cathay cabin crew returning from long-haul flights yesterday were unaware that a deal had been struck. However, Daniel Kessler, a pilot with the airline for three months, believed the relationship between the two airlines was positive and should not lead to any major problems. 'I don't really mind and I don't believe my job will be affected by this decision,' Mr Kessler said. Tiffany Chau, who has been with Dragonair as a flight attendant for 10 years, also has few worries. 'Of course, there will be a few changes. But the expansion will be a good thing overall,' Ms Chau said. The takeover comes amid a Cathay voluntary early retirement scheme covering about 1,600 of its more experienced Hong Kong-based cabin crew. A spokeswoman for the airline said that applications had been received during the month-long sign-up period that ended at 5pm yesterday but declined to say how many. Ms Kwan said only one of her members had asked about the scheme. 'At our annual general meeting at the end of last month, we had the voluntary early retirement scheme on our agenda as an item for discussion but nobody asked any questions,' she said. 'Nobody was interested.' Dragonair has 1,060 cabin crew while Cathay employs more than 11,000 Hong Kong-based staff, 6,800 of whom are cabin crew.