Staff reporters
Cathay Pacific might cancel more flights in the near future as the airline is suffering from its own “strategic mistake” during restructuring plans in 2020, which makes the current recruitment exercise of 800 pilots “almost meaningless,” union leader Paul Weatherilt said.
It comes after the Hong Kong flagship carrier announced the cancellation of more than 34 flights on Monday, which was originally due to pilots calling in sick, including those bound for Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Dubai, Delhi and Dhaka.
But the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association responded that the canceled flights were a result of insufficient pilots rather than pilots falling sick, warning that more cancellations might come during the Lunar New Year holidays.
In an interview with Sing Tao Daily, association chairman Weatherilt said the pilot shortage was the result of a “strategic mistake” during Cathay’s 2020 mass-scale restructuring, aimed at cutting losses amid the pandemic, and a lack of foresight in its pilot training.
He slammed Cathay for setting out recruitment targets that do not match the company’s demands.
”It is almost meaningless to say, ‘we [Cathay Pacific] are recruiting 800 cadets’,” Weatherilt said. “Recruiting a cadet can be done very quickly, and Cathay was never short of cadets.”
Cadets need around a year to become second officers, and Cathay is also not short of second officers, as their numbers are similar to pre-pandemic figures. “However, Cathay has always been lagging behind in training first officers and captains, as there are only around 52 percent of first officers and captains for commercial flights compared to pre-pandemic figures,” he said.
Weatherilt explained that if an airline wants to train 10 captains, apart from training 10 first officers, they also have to let 20 second officers accumulate enough hours of flying experience to become second officers, which means providing training to 30 pilots.
”Without considering the increased capacity of the third runway at the Hong Kong International Airport and new plane orders, Cathay needs two to four years to train pilots before recovering to pre-pandemic levels. It is completely unrealistic to return to pre-pandemic capacity by the end of 2024,” he added.
He called on the management to rehire pilots with attractive remuneration and working hours. “These decisions not only dealt a negative impact on Hong Kong as an aviation hub, but also deprived shareholders of their interest,” Weatherilt said.
Meanwhile, a pilot said many colleagues had to stop working after reaching the upper limit of flying hours set by the authorities.
”Pilots staying in the industry are passionate about flying and have a strong sense of belonging to the CX brand, so we are doing our best,” the pilot said.
The Civil Aviation Department requires that a pilot does not fly over 100 hours within 28 days or more than 900 hours within 12 months.
However, travelers are disappointed as they have to pay extra to book another flight.
A businesswoman, who was supposed to fly from Shanghai to Hong Kong on Sunday, said she had to pay an extra 300 yuan (HK$328.90) to get on another flight on the same day.
Editorial: Page 4
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