Cathay traditionally had a higher than average failure rate for upgrade to Command. Not because the people involved were below industry average, but because CX established and enforced much higher standards than was common in the industry. You could at one time be certain that the Captain in charge of a CX aircraft was arguably the most highly trained and of the highest standard (no other airline in the world had a 6 month Command upgrade course, with multiple checks and relentless scrutiny and expectations). Needless to say, with the exodus of hundreds of thousands of flying hours experience in the airline, it now faces a two-fold problem: 1) the need to replace that experience, and 2) the consequence of losing that experience. CX management now find that they have to compromise on their once industry "gold standard", which established their reputation and unique place in the aviation industry.
There still is a lingering legacy of their former standards remaining in the current Flt Ops management. However, it is not in dispute that with the rapid localization of the airline management, the unique "expat mentality"of how the airline was run is diminishing. The reality is CX is rapidly becoming "just another Asian airline".
Flt Ops management genuinely wish to maintain their standards, but the political and cultural pressures inherent in the shifting mix of nationalities and cultures will surely change CX, and not for the better. The failure rate will likely remain high, and perhaps go higher with the intent of maintaining standards. The problem is that the raw material management have to work with is no longer on average the same high standard they always had. Eventually, the failure rate will begin to decrease...and that is then truly the moment you can begin to worry for the safety of the airline.
In the past, the high failure rate represented the core reason that CX was a magnificent airline. It's standards were higher than any of it's industry peers, and ruthlessly maintained. Now, that is surely not the case.
Last edited by mngmt mole; 16th February 2025 at 14:18.