Cathay flight attendants call for 8 per cent pay rise after airline’s profits soar
PUBLISHED : Friday, 14 November, 2014, 5:38pm
UPDATED : Friday, 14 November, 2014, 6:29pm
Timmy Sung
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The union representing flight attendants noted that Cathay would be holding a party at the end of the year. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
Cathay Pacific’s flight attendants’ union is calling for, among other things, an 8 per cent pay rise for next year and an extra month’s salary ahead of year-end negotiations with the airline.
The union argued that fuel prices had dropped considerably in the past few years and noted that Cathay is throwing a party at the end of the year, reflecting the turn-up in the company’s business.
Union chairwoman Dora Lai said: “It is a realistic demand. There is room for them [to offer an 8 per cent pay rise].”
Cathay’s net profit for the first half of this year rose to HK$347 million from HK$24 million in the same period last year, but fell short of the company’s own forecast.
Cathay expects its profit to be even better in the second half of the year because of seasonal factors and signs of an increase in cargo load.
Apart from pay, the union is also demanding the company renew its restriction, which will expire in January, on the number of non-Hong Kong based cabin crews allowed to work on flights.
It also wants the company to study the possibility of extending the retirement age of flight attendants, saying that a majority of crews that responded to a poll conducted earlier this year said an extension was important.
The negotiations are set to begin at the end of the month.
Cathay’s pilots had earlier voted for industrial action after negotiations over a pay offer broke down. Over 90 per cent of Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association members voted “yes” in an online poll asking them whether they wanted to press ahead with a work-to-rule protest.