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Cathay Pacific staff members leave their check-in counter at Hong Kong International Airport on October 21. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Letters | Cathay lay-offs inhumane to staff who lifted Hong Kong carrier

I am writing to express my opinion on Cathay Pacific’s recent lay-offs. The Covid-19 virus emerged earlier this year, and the pandemic it sparked is still raging. People’s lives, businesses, supply chains and entire national economies have been upended. The aviation industry, in particular, has been hit hard. Global travel was as good as halted for months and only began sputtering back to life in recent months, but even then it is a pale shadow of its former self.

The nearly 6,000 staff laid off by Cathay Pacific Airways under a restructuring decision included around 2,000 cabin crew and about 550 pilots working under the Cathay Dragon brand, while across the group the job cuts affected 4,000 cabin crew and 600 pilots.
For workers such as flight attendants and pilots, it can be difficult for them to find new jobs immediately. When they chose to work in this industry, they invested several years of their lives to obtain an assessment certificate. They have a very specialised set of skills and might struggle to quickly master those needed for other jobs (“Hospital offers free training to laid-off aviation staff after Cathay jobs cull”, October 23).
In addition, I think the company’s approach is inhumane. Although operations have been made more difficult by the pandemic, the employees have also worked hard and contributed to the company, bringing it benefits. However, the company chose a time when so many employees had no work or income and not only dismissed them but scrapped an entire brand, causing much heartbreak and panic.

Lovette Lam, Tseung Kwan O

Jobs cuts difficult but were for the greater good

I refer to “Cathay swings axe on jobs” (October 22), regarding 8,500 job posts at Cathay Pacific being scrapped worldwide, including laying off 5,900 staff based in Hong Kong.
In my opinion, this is the most “heart-wrenching” decision a firm could have to make, but they still have to do so amid the recession. The pandemic has caused an economic downturn all over the world and thousands of companies have shut down, and now so has Cathay Dragon. Although many families will be affected, it was necessary for the company to dismiss those workers to reduce overall losses.

Some may argue that it is inconsiderate to suddenly fire so many employees at the same time since they had a steady job and most of them, such as pilots, do not have any other working experience. It will be very hard for them to find another job to make ends meet. However, drastic measures were necessary, as the company was losing billions of dollars each month.

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Cathay Pacific warns of historic HK$9.9 billion loss due to coronavirus pandemic

Cathay Pacific warns of historic HK$9.9 billion loss due to coronavirus pandemic

Most importantly, with this downsizing, the company can turn its focus to developing Cathay Pacific and HK Express as both airlines have suffered great losses during the pandemic-related travel shutdown. It has to think of a series of policies to revive the company and rekindle staff morale, and it does not have enough capital and resources for all the brands.

It would be more difficult to revitalise the company if it needed to deal with all those losses in the long term. Therefore, closing down one of the brands means the company can allocate the resources better, instead of haemorrhaging money. The survival of the other two brands also means there is an opportunity for future employment.

I believe the job cuts were a necessary decision, regardless of the sorrow that has been caused.

Ma Ting Ting, Sha Tin

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