Do Rolls Royce or Boeing employees consider their product the equivalent of, say, Tupelov or even Mitsubishi?
Would you say, FB that the employees of the two aforementioned Coys have something to feel proud of, in THEIR product?
So likewise have the Cathay pilots been proud to present to the market a Premium product, because they were able to operate under optimum conditions.....now, THEY are fighting to maintain a STANDARD - one which has taken a couple of generations to be recognised as a world-leader.
We all know the difference between buying a watch that is "Swiss Made", for example a ROLEX, and one that is not! No-one knows better than the Chinese - ROLEX is their benchmark, when it comes to watches.
And Cathay was the "ROLEX" of Airlines - yet the current management are trying to keep the "ROLEX" face but incorporate a cheap mechanism - a copy ROLEX!
China has the opportunity to continue setting world standards in Airlines, by way of Cathay Pacific. Or it can be seen to be promoting yet another cheap copy version of the dime-a-dozen Asian/express competitors.
CX may yet be China's proof that Quality is recognised as a desirable asset, in a country where quantity is abundantly available.