Dragonair pay policies 'unfair to local pilots'
Dragonair is discriminating against locally hired pilots through policies that result in expatriate fliers receiving up to twice as much in their pay packets, its pilots' union claims.
The pay arrangements for local versus expatriate pilots are so different that it violates the company's own anti-discrimination guidelines, the Dragonair Pilot's Association claims in a letter sent to the airline's management and obtained by the Sunday Morning Post.
The letter was sent at the request of the airline, which has been locked in a long-running dispute with the union over the issue of local pilot remuneration.
While both local and expat pilots receive the same base salary, the union is unhappy that allowances paid to expatriates mean their packages end up dwarfing those of local colleagues.
'Despite being similarly qualified and experienced, direct entry first officers employed on local terms will receive less than half the overall remuneration of their peers on expatriate terms,' the letter claims.
'Even as captains [local hires] can still receive less than expatriate first officers.'
Both the airline and its parent, Cathay Pacific, have denied the practice is discriminatory.
A spokesman for Dragonair said the company was committed to treating all staff fairly.
'Hong Kong has a very limited supply of qualified pilots and thus must look overseas to recruit as well,' he said. 'Certain benefits are provided to attract talent from overseas. This kind of practice is not uncommon in Hong Kong.'
Cathay said it was an equal opportunity employer.
'For a large international carrier such as Cathay Pacific, overseas recruitment of experienced pilots is essential because the supply of pilots is very limited in Hong Kong,' a spokeswoman said.
'Because we have to recruit experienced pilots to take up residence in Hong Kong for the long term, like all multinational corporations in Hong Kong, we need to offer relocation benefits to attract the overseas recruits.'
One Dragonair pilot said: 'Experienced local pilots earn exactly the same amount for the company. They have to have exactly the same skills and experience and they do exactly the same work.
'The package the expats are on is the going rate for pilots in Hong Kong and it is only fair that local pilots are paid the same amount.'
He estimated that about 10 per cent of Dragonair's pilots were on local terms.
The association's letter notes that the city's civil service abolished local versus non-local pay arrangements back in the 1970s.
'The issue of local pay, which has evolved out of the old race-based criteria of the colonial era, is clearly a potential source of resentment and unwelcome publicity,' the letter says.
'It must surely be in the company's interest to resolve this historic anomaly as soon as possible.'
Cathay said it was trying to address the shortage of local pilots by continuing to run its cadet pilot programme. 'To date, more than 270 locally trained cadets have graduated to become pilots with the airline,' the spokeswoman said.
