Nearly all Cathay Dragon staff to lose jobs in cuts, as boss apologises and says focus must be on ‘world-leading’ Cathay Pacific
- Regional carrier closed with immediate effect on Wednesday, with 2,500 cabin crew and pilots to be made redundant
- Cathay Pacific Airways chairman calls decision ‘heart-wrenching’
Around 2,000 cabin crew, and about 550 pilots working under the Dragon brand were expected to lose their jobs, the airline said, adding that across the group in Hong Kong 4,000 cabin crew, 600 pilots, and 700 ground staff and head office positions would be cut.
Just 10 Dragon pilots had been kept on to train future Cathay Pacific pilots on new single-aisle jets, a source said.
Earlier, Cathay announced it would eliminate 8,500 job posts globally in a HK$2.2 billion (US$284 million) restructuring, and close Cathay Dragon with immediate effect. The move would lead to 5,900 staff being made redundant, with 5,300 of those based in Hong Kong.
Healy said the airline group had done everything it could to avoid the cuts, but they had to be made to “secure the survival of this incredible 74-year-old company”.
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Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific to axe 5,900 staff and immediately drop Dragon brand
“The decisions we have announced today will cause great distress and anxiety for a large number of our people and their families,” Healy said. “For this we are truly sorry.
“We have thought long and hard over recent months, we have examined diligently all possible ways forward, and we have come to the conclusion, reluctantly, that today’s decisions must be made to … secure the survival of this incredible 74-year-old company.”