Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways will have rehired 180 local pilots by February, with plans to bring on ‘several hundred’ more
- In addition to the ongoing efforts to rehire laid-off pilots over the coming year, the airline is also planning to restart its cadet programme
- Pilots who spoke to the Post say there has been a ‘significant uptick’ in resignations amid tightened local rules for aircrew
Cathay Pacific Airways will have hired back more than 180 local pilots by next month, with plans to bring on another “several hundred” over the coming year as resignations continue to sap the beleaguered carrier’s manpower.
In a statement to the Post on Thursday, a spokesman said Cathay had been rehiring local pilots since summer last year after cutting thousands of jobs since the coronavirus pandemic began.
“By February 2022, we would have offered employment to over 180 pilots … in the Hong Kong market,” he said.
The airline said the new hires would need to be retrained to operate specific aircraft – which would take time – and then be invited to sign up for closed-loop arrangements to support cargo and passenger flights.
In addition to hiring several hundred more pilots, Cathay will also be restarting its cadet programme early this year.
“We have already resumed our pilot recruitment activities, and this has generated significant interest within the Hong Kong pilot community and around the world,” the spokesman said.
Hong Kong’s strict quarantine requirements amid the Covid-19 pandemic have taken a toll on pilots personally, as well as on the aviation industry as a whole.
Pilots who spoke to the Post said there had been a “significant uptick” in resignations starting last November, when three cargo pilots were fired by Cathay after breaking company rules by leaving their hotel rooms while on a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany and then lying about it.