Cathay management must keep the faith

Hong Kong’s flagship carrier has been given a chance to come back from the brink of collapse, thanks to help from its customer base and the public at large; now, despite painful redundancies and pay cuts, is the time to prepare for better days ahead

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A Cathay Pacific flight attendant wheels her luggage past a parking bay for the company’s aircraft. Photo: Robert Ng

Published: 8:43pm, 8 Nov 2020Updated: 10:08pm, 8 Nov 2020

Nearly all Cathay Pacific pilots and more than 90 per cent of cabin crew have accepted lower pay and conditions. The scale of the cuts – reported to have been 40 to 60 per cent in the case of aircrew salaries – suggests an airline and its people resigned to irreversible decline in unprecedented times. Instead they should be seen in a positive light, as a sign of staff’s willingness to make sacrifices needed to ensure the company’s survival and fitness to seize opportunities for recovery.

Weathering the storm of the pandemic-induced collapse in passenger aviation will be a long haul, to borrow the industry’s term for its furthest flights. Confidence in cross-border movement may not be rebuilt overnight. The all-clear for safe travel that embraces a vast global network will take a long time in coming. Awareness of these realities is implicit in the acceptance of the bitter medicine of heavy pay cuts. But if the extent of the sacrifice by its people, and evidence of their resolve to see out the long haul, are any indication, Cathay will survive – leaner, stronger and wiser for a near-death experience.

The transfusion of nearly HK$30 billion (US$3.9 billion) of taxpayers’ money more than four months ago bought time for the airline to formulate a plan for its survival. It has eliminated 8,500 jobs globally, including 5,300 redundancies in Hong Kong, and closed the Cathay Dragon operation. The radical downsizing is part of a HK$2.2 billion restructuring forced by a 99 per cent collapse in daily passenger volume after most of its fleet was grounded by border closures and quarantine rules.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po summed it up as a matter of “life or death” capable of harming the city’s international status and development in the region. Taxpayers – or the flying public – have saved Cathay from collapse with a huge handout. The remaining global headcount of nearly 30,000 has helped position it for a comeback with personal sacrifice. Hongkongers, understandably, now have expectations of their flagship airline, and trust that it will not let the city down. It is now up to Cathay management to do its part, remembering the lessons of the past and demonstrating faith – or at least cautious optimism – in the future.