Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways will resume its cadet pilot training programme for the first time since it was suspended two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with plans to recruit about 190 candidates to boost the beleaguered airline’s personnel numbers. A spokesman for the airline said on Monday that the company’s recruitment drive would begin a new collaboration with Polytechnic University and expected to increase its cadet intake from 180 in 2019 to 190 this year. “Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, Cathay Pacific is confident in the development and long-term future of Hong Kong as a premier aviation hub,” he said, adding the yearly intake of cadets could increase from 190 to between 240 and 300 from 2023 to 2025. As part of the programme, candidates will start with ground theory lectures in Hong Kong before commencing flight training in either Adelaide, Australia or Phoenix in the United States. Cadets will then be sent to company headquarters Cathay City for multi-crew simulator training. The course is expected to last about 55 to 60 weeks, with the first intake of 24 cadets set to commence flight training in October. Hong Kong gives go-ahead to Greater Bay Airlines to fly 104 routes in Asia Previously, Hong Kong’s varying levels of strict anti-epidemic measures led to many pilots quitting their jobs or leaving the city, with the airline later deciding to recruit more locally to ease personnel shortages. “We recommenced recruiting local pilots in summer last year, including some 200 eligible, qualified pilots for Cathay Pacific, and altogether about 300 for the group’s airlines,” said Greg Hughes, the carrier’s chief operations and service delivery officer. Cathay is also expected to take on about 150 trained and qualified cadets who were unable to join in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. The company shed a record 5,900 jobs in October 2020 when it axed its regional airline Cathay Dragon and went on to impose a range of permanent and temporary staffing cuts in the first half of 2021, further reducing its workforce by 2,500. Andrew Yuen Chi-lok, of Chinese University’s Aviation Policy and Research Centre, said it was possible that the global aviation industry would start to recover from the impact of the pandemic from late 2022. “It is necessary for Cathay to relaunch the programme now to train local pilots to meet future demand. It is noted that the training period for a pilot needs around two years,” he said. Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific reports loss of HK$5.5 billion for 2021 “Taking into account the training period and the industry recovery, the recent epidemic may not affect the attractiveness of the programme,” he added. But Shukor Yusof, the founder of aviation advisory firm Endau Analytics, noted that Cathay was rebuilding its pool of cockpit crew by relying more on local pilots. “It comes at a time when Cathay Pacific is slowly but surely doing away with its dependence on expatriate pilots which are among the world’s most expensive and can sometimes be a disruptive force to the airline’s management when it comes to union demands,” he said. Singapore Airlines made a similar decision years ago and has reaped the benefits, Yusof said, adding that current crews were less prone to confrontation or as demanding as they were over 20 years ago, providing much-needed stability for the carrier.