I can’t help feeling the Swires might have made a bit of a pigs ear of aircrew relations over the years. So, surely now is the ideal time for Air China to absorb Cathay. Why delay?
The Cathay tails could be rebranded while the fleet is still half-grounded. No need to take Cathay airframes out of service to receive their Air China livery. Cathay Crew would be getting at the very minimum a ‘dirt bag operator’ management which can only be an improvement on the ‘lower level of dirt bag’ lamented by VforV. So that should keep him happy at least. And the Cathay crew could be tagged on to the top of the combined seniority list, which shouldn’t cause too much friction because I’m sure the existing Air China crew would be happy to make way for the 'top talent’. Even the remaining A-Scalers could get a long awaited boost to their egos by being drafted invited to join the 747-8i VIP fleet, which would no doubt make President Xi happy too. Win, win, win!