Unfortunately, once the company headed down the "local" road (way back in 1988...) it was inevitable that this situation would eventually push its way to the forefront. There is virtually no country that will displace its local talent for the sake of expats. I always believed that one day CX would cease to be an expat company, and in some ways I am surprised it has taken this long. Certainly the political pressure from hundreds of out of work local pilots was always going to pressure change, and once they closed KA it was inevitable the issue would be pressed ahead.
Arguably there is no turning back for the aviation industry in HK. To be fair, the issue is also manifesting itself in the banking industry, with the banks reducing their expat count as more and more local bankers assume the positions of higher responsibility. They become the leaders, and their natural affinity is to hire from a similar background.
It became an accepted "truism" that CX would always be an "expat" airline...until it wasn't. I sympathise for the many expats who internally rationalised that CX was their " career" airline. Unfortunately, the changes in the past year in both the airline and HK have quickly swept that conceit aside. We were always just the hired help, and a new reality has replaced the old comfortable logic, one that no longer applies. I remember an ex CEO tell me back in 1992 that we (the A scale) would "die on the vine". Well, the vine is now withered and about to be discarded...
There will be some expats employed by CX for many years yet, but it will be on strictly local terms and only if they are required for specific job skills. I don't believe "pilot" will remain in that category for too much longer...