12 April 2003 - Cathay's Press statement:
Cathay Pacific has no plans to stop operation.
Cathay Pacific has no plans as of now to stop operation at any future date.
Despite the current difficult situation with 42% of the Cathay Pacific schedule cancelled, the airline is maintaining its network and providing scheduled services as much as possible.
Cathay Pacific has considered a number of contingency measures to maintain its services, preserve cash and minimize expenditure. Some of these measures are already in place such as stopping all promotional and advertising activities. More measures will be implemented as and when necessary. We certainly hope the situation will improve soon. Cathay Pacific will continue to work closely with the Hong Kong community to overcome the current challenges together.
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Although they have withdrawn what they said on the internal memo, it sounds like a prelude for bigger and not really better things to come. It's a 'cushioning the blow' tactic, I believe.