When I read your arguments swh, I can't help feeling like a teenager being lectured about life by teachers, bound by a certain idealism while being stuck in the past.
To me it almost sounds like you're defending your current employer...
I hope I'm wrong on both accounts.
For your various inputs above - I doubt that UO has "Hub" access and receives emails from some James Evans with "Dear colleague...", updates from Augustus or "Moves Beyond".
It may have changed, but to my knowledge Group Safety never involved UO.
UO is most certainly under a different roof, i.e. in KA house, ironically, and when doing their simulators and emergency training are completely away from Cathay.
I'm well aware of what an airline group entails.
My point was to justify that a KA employee is most certainly a Cathay employee, as being part of Cathay and being so integrated in every moment of the daily operation (except seniority) - and believe me, it was not something that I believe any KA employee was proud of or wanted.
I fully agree that a KA employee is employed by KA. I never disputed that.
And I never said a KA employee was a CX employee.
Codesharing has nothing to do with route rights. Codesharing is for passenger convenience, mileage accrual and for marketing purposes. Christ, even Finnair and American had codeshare on our flights to i.e. Phnom Penh.
That doesn't mean that AY or AA can start up flights to PNH tomorrow.
I'm well aware of both CX and KA's route rights.
However, it's all beside the point.
Point is that CX is now flying KA destinations with ex-KA aircraft.
But no KA staff, many of whom had operated these aircraft and routes for decades and called Hong Kong their homes, their children born here.
This is now all handed over on a silver platter to junior CX crew recently arrived from Oz or SA, who might just call HKG a stepping stone (especially on COS18/21).
Fact is, that a company take-over took place, with all assets - except staff - being taken over by the parent company.
So KA employees employed by KA and taken over by CX would under normal, civilised jurisdictions be transferred with the assets to the new purchaser, i.e. the parent company.
As you could see from my previous, this happened according to European labor legislations in IAG group when "OpenSkies began operating as Level France, with the same employees since operating under a new brand, with flight crew retrained to fly Airbus aircraft."
Doesn't matter if parts of Level is still operating.
If an airline is taken over, certain rules apply in the civilised World.
If an airline winds down or parts of it (even under a company organisation) goes bankrupt, that's a different story. Tough luck for the employees, even within a warm and friendly airline group.
Look also at how Silk Air was transferred to SQ.
Again, civilised World, 21st century, happy days.
You hit the nail on the head with your last few paragraphs and finally I can say that I wholeheartedly agree with you.
It was something that most, if not all, KA employees were well aware of years ago (so nothing new there ;-) )
I have heard however, that since the NEOs are now in-house with CX, senior management has wet dreams of keeping all the 32 NEOs for themselves now...how ironic.
I have also learned that the company name under which certain transferred KA pilots were employed under, was set up well ahead of COVID, proving exactly that this was a planned move ages ago as you suggest.
It doesn't make it more right or less disgusting though so let's stop pretending, shall we?