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Cathay Dragon
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A Cathay Dragon flight approaches for landing at Hong Kong International Airport on August 14 last year. Cathay Pacific shut down its subsidiary carrier as part of a massive restructuring. Photo: EPA-EFE

Letters | Cathay Dragon: why is a truly Hong Kong brand being sacrificed?

  • Dragonair was the first company in Hong Kong to create a proper career path for locals, especially pilots. Was brutal decision to shut down Cathay Dragon just an industrial ploy to intimidate the remaining Cathay employees?
I am writing this letter to voice my disappointment with the decision made by the board of directors of Cathay Pacific to close down Cathay Dragon (formerly known as Dragonair) as part of the restructuring of the Cathay group (“Cathay Dragon employees shocked, shaken by decision to axe Hong Kong airline”, October 21).
Dragonair was a truly Hong Kong brand. It was the first company in Hong Kong to create a proper career path for locals, especially those in the pilot profession.

In the current economic environment, of course measures need to be taken to reduce expenditure and preserve capital, but the brutal decision to close down Cathay Dragon would make me wonder whether it was just an industrial ploy intended to intimidate the remaining Cathay Pacific employees.

I would like to ask the following questions:

  • Why was Cathay Dragon not given the opportunity to exist in a dormant state for a period of time until the economic environment improved?
  • Why is Hong Kong Express being kept intact even though it has not made any contribution to the group?
  • Why is the whole group of Cathay Dragon pilots (about 550 made jobless) being made to make sacrifices that are not being shared among the three brands under the Cathay group?
  • Will new or extensions to work visas for expatriate pilots be issued now that Hong Kong has a qualified pool of very experienced local pilots without a job?
When taxpayers’ money is involved, I would have thought that proper consideration would be given, in order to preserve a truly Hong Kong brand that was built by a group of very dedicated Hong Kong people over many years.

S.C. Chak, ex-Dragonair local pilot, Tung Chung

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