Cathay Pacific to hire 4,000 staff by the end of 2023 as part of ambitious recruitment drive, CEO Augustus Tang says

In an interview with the Post on Wednesday, Augustus Tang Kin-wing said the airline was “very much in a growth mode and growth mentality” almost two years after the company went through major restructuring, during which it closed down regional carrier Cathay Dragon and laid off thousands of staff.

Tang said Cathay Pacific planned to recruit 700 pilots and 2,000 cabin crew by the end of 2023, with the rest of the 4,000 new employees to be hired as airport frontline staff and for its customer service centre.

Across the Cathay Pacific Group, he said, a total of 8,000 new staff would be hired from now to the end of next year, including for operational subsidiaries such as catering, its cargo terminal and airport handling services.

“This is our commitment to Hong Kong and making sure that the Hong Kong aviation hub will be ready and will be competitive and remain a key aviation hub in the world,” Tang said.

With Cathay having no domestic network, reopening the border for quarantine-free travel is crucial to its business. Tang said this was also key for Hong Kong’s future as an aviation hub.

“We are at a different pace [compared with] other cities. Hong Kong is opening up and we are very much encouraged by the recent adjustment by the Hong Kong government, in terms of the travel restrictions and crew quarantines,” he said.