Coronavirus: Hong Kong Airlines asks cabin crew to take 30 per cent pay cut for four months to secure jobs
- Flight attendants who sign up will have salary cut from November until February and will be on duty for two months and off for two
- Number of crew required to work will be slashed by half with ‘fewer than 10 aircraft’ flying during the Covid-19 crisis, company says
The cash-strapped carrier, backed by Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, said on Friday that it wanted to lower salaries for four months, while the number of crew required to work would be slashed by half with “fewer than 10 aircraft” flying during the health crisis.
The city’s third largest airline has been beset by financial difficulties for more than two years with its woes made worse by the pandemic and the resulting strict travel restrictions. Pilots have taken unpaid leave while 400 jobs were axed earlier this year.
“Our current crew strength is far in excess of the number required to operate the planned flight schedule,” the airline’s director of service delivery, Chris Birt, said in a memo.
“As a result, our salary costs are disproportionately high, we are unable to provide you with sufficient flying hours.”
