More job cuts suspected at Hong Kong’s embattled flagship airline Cathay
Hong Kong’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific is said to be planning more sackings in the third quarter this year, Apple Daily has learned.
The airline fired 5,300 Hong Kong employees in October last year. The cuts may continue, as news has emerged of an internal company announcement about manpower restructuring coming up in the third quarter.
“You can continue to take Cathay Pacific. But don’t expect it to be a premier airline anymore,” said flight attendant Joy, who has over 10 years of experience, as the personnel cuts have battered morale and also increased workload.
Flights would have one fewer purser on board, with the manager’s work to be divided amongst other cabin crew members, Apple Daily heard.
Cabin crews are made up of the basic crew, flight pursers, senior flight pursers and an inflight service manager. Apple Daily learned that at least 30% of pursers were already dismissed in last year’s big job cuts.
After removing a flight purser, the work will be redistributed to colleagues. The inflight service manager, who oversees all the crew, will have to be “demoted” to also serve passengers, which would translate into one fewer crew member.
Joy, who has worked as a basic crew member for a decade, says flight pursers are important to a team. If the work was to be passed on to a less experienced basic crew member, the quality of service might suffer, she said. It also did not make sense to have the inflight service manager start doing service duties again, and that it might be a misuse of manpower, she added.
“Many of them have been doing this work for a decade or two, and now suddenly they have to take up tasks they only did in the beginning of their careers,” Joy said. Many of the managers would be in their 40s or 50s, and to go back to helping with moving luggage could increase the chances of injuries, she added.
Apart from slashing staff numbers, Cathay Pacific also adjusted salaries, resulting in pay cuts of around 40% for some cabin crew staffers.
Joy said that with her 10 years of experience, the monthly income was only HK$11,000 (US$1417) under her new contract, but the workload had increased.
“In the past, even if colleagues did not like the company, there was a sense of camaraderie and unity, so everyone tried to do their best to make things work. But from the company’s perspective, since everyone has such a can-do spirit, we’re therefore given more work,” Joy said. The pay and job cuts had also greatly damaged morale.
Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union chairperson Zuki Wong said the union had received numerous complaints in the last few days since the internal announcement was made.
“Ultimately, this is a cost-cutting exercise. [The company] should just admit it, instead of saying this is done to improve service quality,” she said.
Cutting out flight pursers prove that management do not understand operational needs, said Wong.
Cathay Pacific management did not directly answer Apple Daily’s questions on redistributing manpower, but said that due to the pandemic, the number of flights and passengers had dropped dramatically. The airline had been reviewing its inflight services in hopes of serving customers better and allowing crew members “more room to demonstrate their abilities.” Management also said they would continue to talk with colleagues and provide more training to staffers.
Cathay Pacific Airlines and Cathay Dragon last year received HK$500 million of government subsidies for paying employee wages. After the subsidies ended, the group embarked on a redundancy exercise in October, shut down Cathay Dragon and slashed spending by 20%. But with the global aviation industry almost at a standstill, Cathay suffered a loss of close to HK$21.6 billion last year.
Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan said Cathay Pacific axed 8,500 jobs last year, some due to normal reasons. Around 5,900 were actual cuts, including 5,300 based in Hong Kong.
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