I was also there in the 'good old days' and indeed can add my own personal anecdotes about Rod Eddington. Similar to the relationships that the Swires had with the pilots, Rod lived in the same block of flats as us and he regularly socialised with the pilot / F/E group with no seeming animus towards us. Admittedly with a slight bias towards our Antipodean cousins but nevertheless if he was a 'pilot hater' he never showed it. I guess about that time Cathay entered the world of global airline players and the rules changed. Also the 49er issue damaged the relationship for good.
Cheers