Gents,
Please, please can we get over the use of the words dismissed or fired in this case. The 49ers had their contracts terminated.
It may on the surface seem to be nit picking, but it isn't.
Had the 49ers been fired or dismissed, then Cathay management, under the terms of the contract, would have had to have gone through due process. This would have taken time and would not have served Cathay managements purpose - which, lest we forget, was designed to intimidate the rest of the pilot workforce so that they would not carry out their threat of industrial action.
So, whether Cathay (in your opinion CK) would have had cause to dismiss an individual if they had gone through the discipline and grievance procedure in the contract is irrelevant. The problem for Cathay is that they did not go through that process, but then made general public statements about the performance of the pilots concerned.
I have to say, Colonel, that it is disappointing to me that you feel able to make such insinuations about a named individual from behind a cloak of anonymity. I am surprised that the Moderator of this forum allows it.