Dragon's Demise: an epic failure of governance
Well, we've all had a few days to absorb the shock assassination of Dragonair (I can't bring myself to refer to its rebranded name), and there's something about it that needs to be acknowledged - sure, it leaves a bitter taste in everyone's mouth, but there is a deeper, systemic rot in the whole HK aviation game that has led to this travesty.
What I am referring to is the way Cathay Pacific, the robber barons of the HK flying game, have been allowed, over decades, to slowly strangle and suffocate any semblance of competition, and the loser has been the people of Hong Kong, including the 6000 or so pilots and flight attendants and ancillary staff who have been neatly severed from their adopted corporate body, a sacrifice to the inept and corrupt boardrooms that engineered this scenario.
Melodramatic? Really? How can the government, which pretends to represent the good people of Hong Kong, the government that has thrown billions of tax revenue dollars at Chep Lap Kok (even more with the new runway development and road connections), see this outcome as anything other than a victory for corporate monopolies ... it's been a long time coming, but in truth the takeover of KA by CX in 2006 had nothing to do with business synergies: it was simply a way to block further competition by hording landing slots and this has stifled any form of healthy competition. If the merger had been overruled by the government in the interest of maintaining competition I would imagine that Dragonair would not have been allowed to fall over, and the people of Hong Kong would have still had a choice when it comes to flying, a choice which has all but evaporated.
I don't have the inside running on all this, and I haven't been personally affected by the closure of KA, but I'm sure there are people in the HK government, quite apart from the former employees of Dragonair, who are ruing the day they allowed CX to swallow this great little airline which served the people of Hong Kong safely and professionally, for 35 years.
What a disgrace!