Probably a "strategic" cancellation.
A search of the internet finds this article.
Cathay pilots set for Christmas work-to-rule protest as pay row rumbles on | South China Morning Post
Cathay Pacific passengers could face a frustrating Christmas after pilots, unhappy with a pay offer, voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action.
Some 93 per cent of Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association members voted "yes" in an online poll asking them whether they wanted to press ahead with their first work-to-rule protest since 2001, a letter sent to members yesterday shows.
The letter did not state when the work-to-rule, or contract compliance, campaign would take place. But in an earlier letter, the union told members action "must" start within 42 days of a vote result being announced.
Pilots said the action would see staff refuse to work on rostered days off, and would have a "significant" impact, causing delays and cancellations.
Cathay is no stranger to threats of industrial action over the holidays; last year, members of the pilots' union voted to take action but agreed in December to hold talks. Cabin crew had also threatened action in 2012.
Some 2,100 of Cathay's 2,900 pilots are members of the union. About 90 per cent of members voted in the latest poll.
Pilots' union general secretary Chris Beebe said yesterday that industrial action was "likely" but that the union wanted more talks with Cathay. A decision to scrap the protest would be "contingent upon a better pay offer".
In September, the airline offered Hong Kong-based crew increases of 4 per cent this year, 3 per cent next year and 3 per cent in 2016. For those based in Europe, the rises would be a percentage point lower this year and next. Those in New Zealand would get 1 per cent each year.
A "disappointed" Cathay spokesman said further talks were planned.
"We have been in regular communication with the negotiating committee ... and look forward to further discussions later this month," he said. The nature of the airline business meant the company had to prepare resources to cover any eventuality.
"We will do our best to make sure that we continue to operate our flight services as scheduled."
One Cathay pilot said the looming industrial action would have a bigger impact than the last such campaign in 2001, because the airline's staffing was significantly more stretched. Junior pilots were typically called in on their days off two or three times a month, cutting into their social lives, the pilot added.
"We will not be answering phone calls, unless of course we are on standby," the pilot said, nor would crew arrive early to do preparatory work, as was usual.
The 2001 industrial action ended in the sacking of 51 pilots, 49 of them on one day. The 49ers, as the sacked pilots became known, engaged in a lengthy legal battle with the company.