CATHAY interviews

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Cathay Pacific No Longer a Career Airline

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9 July 2002

Contract Abuse Must Stop To End Nine-Year Dispute

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association (HKAOA), the representative body for Cathay Pacific’s 1,600 pilots, today said that Cathay Pacific’s continuing abuse of its pilots’ contracts has turned the airline from a career airline into a contract airline. It also called for an end to contract abuse by the airline if the management wants to end the dispute.

Contract airlines, mostly the low cost carriers, function with short-term contracts for its pilots. Career airlines follow a different model with a seniority system to encourage the world’s best pilots to join for ‘lifetime’ careers. Through its mass sacking last year, pilots at Cathay Pacific are now effectively on a three-month contract.

“It is a tremendous shame that Cathay Pacific is only paying lip service to being a career airline,” said John Findlay, General Secretary of the HKAOA. “Its unilateral change to contract terms, continued intimidation of pilots and the mass sackings quite clearly show that they do not want to maintain their reputation for hiring the world’s best pilots.”

“If Cathay stops this contractual abuse, this dispute can end tomorrow. It is entirely up to Mr Turnbull and his colleagues,” continued Mr Findlay. “We are willing to meet at any time to discuss these issues in an open and transparent manner. We are willing to abide by the findings of an independent mediator.”

“We urge Mr Turnbull to consider this proposition and not to reject our request again,” he said. Mr Findlay was commenting today at the end of the HKAOA’s Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), held on the first anniversary of Cathay Pacific’s unjustified mass sacking of 49 pilots on 9th July 2001.

The sacking of the 49ers, who were fired by Cathay Pacific in an attempt to bust the union and intimidate its employees into submission, marked a new low in the nine year long dispute between the pilots and Cathay Pacific management.

Today at the EGM, the HKAOA’s members again voted to continue their support of the 49ers and their two colleagues who were sacked by Cathay Pacific one year ago.

Despite statements last year by Cathay Pacific’s senior managers that the dispute was over, it continues into its ninth year and support for the 49ers remains strong.

“This vote is a message to David Turnbull and his colleagues, that their union busting tactics failed a year ago, and they are still failing today,” added John Findlay.

Cathay Pacific’s management has rejected repeated requests by the HKAOA to meet to resolve the dispute, including recently a request to introduce an independent mediator.

The 49ers include four of the union’s seven negotiators, and a disproportionately large number of current and past union committee members.

About the HKAOA

The Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association (HKAOA) was established in 1963 to represent the interests of pilots and flight engineers employed by Cathay Pacific Airways. Its objectives are to protect and further the interests of the aircrew profession and to safeguard and improve the interests and rights of members of the association. HKAOA is the representative group for the 1,600 pilots of Cathay Pacific Airways. The HKAOA is represented internationally by the Hong Kong Airline Pilots’ Association (HKALPA), a member of the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Association (IFALPA). IFALPA comprises some 95
Member Associations and represents 114,000 pilots around the world.

For further information, please see Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association
and contact:
Gavin Anderson & Co (HK)
Ross Hughes Laurence Cook
Mobile [phone] Mobile: [phone]
Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]