Seat81A---
You are quite right about the Chinese government intending to reduce reliance on CX for travel to HKG.
Suspect however that the Cathay pilots would rather think back to yesteryear when CX was the only game in town. If CX is to continue to grow and proper, it MUST keep costs in check, for that is exactly what its competition is doing. If the 'A' scale is to disappear, then that is the price that the pilots will have to pay to keep their jobs. The HKAOA simply does not have the muscle in the present regulatory and economic climate to do otherwise. If they were, for example, Delta Airlines, then the story would be completely different. But they are not, so second fiddle is the only seat available in the orchestra.