Cathay Pacific cabin crew demand 5.5 per cent pay rise, warning carrier not to use data breach crisis as ‘excuse’

7,200-strong union says staff took lower increments in past year to help struggling company get by

Vice-chairwoman says she ‘cannot imagine’ how members will react if airline uses cyberattack to deflect demands

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Cathay Pacific Airways cabin crew say they have made sacrifices for the struggling company. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 7:03am, 15 Nov 2018Updated: 9:55am, 15 Nov 2018

Flight attendants from Cathay Pacific Airways are demanding a 5.5 per cent pay rise to reflect sacrifices they have made for the company, saying the troubled carrier should not use its data breach crisis as an “excuse”.

The airline’s Flight Attendants Union is heading into year-end negotiations with management just as Hong Kong’s flag carrier is embroiled in a massive cyberattack incident affecting 9.4 million passengers.

“Cathay Pacific tries their very best to make use of all sorts of reasons to lower the percentage [of pay increase], but we based our rise on what they tell stakeholders, and the forecast [next year] should be very good,” union vice-chairwoman Dora Lai Yuk-sim said.

She added: “We don’t think there is an excuse for them to, all of a sudden after the data leakage, say business will go down.”

Cabin crew this year received a below-inflation 1 per cent rise, half of what non-managerial staff received in 2017. They are now seeking 5.5 per cent on the basis of helping the company recover lost earnings by previously taking a lower raise.

Cathay Pacific tries their very best to make use of all sorts of reasons to lower the percentage [of pay increase]

Dora Lai, Flight Attendants Union

The city’s inflation rate stood at 2.7 per cent in September.

Cathay is one of a handful of Asia-Pacific airlines that has lost money in recent years. It suffered consecutive years of losses starting in 2016. Last year, the company lost HK$1.25 billion (US$160 million). In the first half of 2018, Cathay narrowed losses to HK$263 million. Financial analysts, including the airline itself, project a return to profitability in 2019.