To be quite honest, Cos 18 was coming, with or without Covid. I remember managers having thoughts about adjusting the pay far ahead of Covid.
They expected some attrition no doubt, but this coupled with the Covid restriction and inability of crew to see family overseas and the inflexible approach of the company in many cases, the attrition was way higher.
Having committed to Cos-18 already, CX was unable to relent and keep the crew.
Where CX really went wrong was the punitive reserve rostering all over the place and inability to secure more unpaid leave, when it was clear that no crew was needed. They really did not seem to care or be flexible.
Understandable, as the company was in distress. They could not see the long view, only what was right ahead of them.
It take a certain type of pilot to want to move to Asia to practice this profession, and there is a limited amount in this world. By forcing so many to leave, there is an even more limited set of experienced crew available to replace them, end most of who left, won't come back.
This leaves two options for CX:
- recover at the rate of a slow influx of pilots and/or training capacity
- throw money at the problem