The Truth for the Travelling Public and the Shareholders

[CX Driver]

Here are some simple facts for the traveling public and shareholders of Cathay Pacific to digest regarding the situation at Cathay Pacific Airways.


Who has systematically reduced the conditions of service to the staff at Cathay Pacific since 1993?

Answer: Cathay Pacific management


Who has threatened to sack the staff of this airline unless they sign new contracts?

Answer: Cathay Pacific management


Who created a new freight operation which was not cost effective and destroyed the morale of the flight crew?

Answer: Cathay Pacific management


Who spent enormous amounts of money renovating aged 747 Classic aircraft just prior to selling them?

Answer: Cathay Pacific management


Who offered a redundancy package to about 60 pilots last year and now find that the airline does not have enough crews to fly the roster?

Answer: Cathay Pacific management


Who has had their overtime pay removed, 2 weeks leave removed, working hours increased to dangerous levels, jobs threatened unless new contracts are signed, while still providing one of the safest and professional operations in a world leading airline in full accordance with their contracts?

Answer: Cathay Pacific flight crew


Even if the flight crew fulfill their contractual obligations for this totalitarian airline, you can expect major disruptions in the coming 12 months due to total mismanagement. I as a pilot, regret your inconvenience but the blame lays totally with Cathay Pacific management. To the shareholders; either let your voices be heard or sell your shares.



[This message has been edited by CX Driver (edited 07 December 2000).]

[jagman]

I've said something like this before but surely the AOA should start a campaign of informing the public what is going on. The SCMP doesn't seem to be quite so much in the Swire pocket and the SQ (world's favourite in most categories) accident is still very much in the public memory.
Here we are HELPING CX to keep the chaos under wraps. We refute rubbish like 'a freely and fairly negotiated 3 year deal' that Barley wrote in the paper.
Why don't we get in first with some accurate info (2 S/0 on ULH and min rest all over the place).
Then Barley would have to refute.

THERE'S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME.

[geh065]

What flights have been departing with 2 SOs?

[Hemlock]

Agree about the SCMP not being in the Swire pocket. But most of the travelling public does not read the SCMP - though I should imagine many frequent fliers are more likely to.

The fact is that public sympathy is unlikely to be on the side of expat crew. The more you stress hours and money, the less sympathy there will be.

The only way to go is serious action. That will bring the government into the picture.

Remember the cabin crew strike? Remember the look on the Chairman's face after Anson Chan (then Sec for Economic Svcs) read him the riot act?

[SuperSandwich]

quite a few flts have been leaving with 2 S/O's. there was one to Paris,LAX and I know of two S/O's called out on Reserve to do the Rome flt.

[CX Driver]

I agree with you Hemlock in that no sympathy will be won by the travelling public by mentioning money and hours worked.

In all honesty I don't care anymore. I know that I as a pilot in Cathay Pacific Airways hold the moral high ground in all of the above issues and simply would like the travelling public and the shareholders to be aware of the facts. They can make up their own minds.

Clearly, the company will be blaming the flight crew for all of the current and future disruptions but the true reason for the disruptions is due to mismanagement.

[CCA]

I know 254 departed the other day with 2 S/O's and one was still under training !

[This message has been edited by CCA (edited 09 December 2000).]

[conan]

Okay ! Here is a suggestion. All A Scale pilots are shareholders, Yes ?
As shareholders we have every right to attend shareholder meetings. So why don't we all go along to the next meeting and ask a lot of questions of the management team. Most of our questions would put this Management ( and I use that term lightly) on the spot. This could well highlight issues, that they would rather not be brought up in front of their major shareholders. It just may get some more influential people alerted to the true situation in this airline.

[WTF...?]

Todays CX 828 to YYZ operated with 2 S/O's
as well.

[bigblackdog]

The company is also now regularly sending S/Os on line training flights to Aus on 3 crew flights. This means a S/O on his first trip in the aircraft can be sitting in the seat for 2-3 hours with a line F/O while the training captain is “resting”(yes that has actually happened!). This must be a safety breach. It puts the aircraft in an almost single pilot operation for a third of the flight. Why do we have line training at all for S/Os if they are able to fly with a F/O straight away!!
Sending 2 S/Os on a ULH is also an absolute joke. It leads to one of the operating pilots sitting in for landing absolutely exhausted from doing the last duty before the descent and arrival. Is it going to take an accident for flight ops to stand up to these bean counting clowns and say this is just plain dangerous?

[Neutral Stability]

Bigblackdog, how can they possibly stand up when they have no back-bone?

[turbosheep]

Neutral Stability,
For flt ops management position, only jellyfish need apply !
And this is more and more apparent for all airlines around the world.
As the need to increase return to shareholders become more desperate (and this is all linked to the managements' share options scheme), safety is always compromised and placed on second gear for the sake of a few more bob in the pocket.
Only when a fatal accident happens will these goons wake up (then again, they can always wear the teflon coat and deflect blame).
I am sure that if and when ICAO and FAA do an audit on CX a lot of **** will hit the fan !

last but not least;
Merry Christmas !

[InUSAandObserving]

As a paying cutomer, member of the traveling public, a person with a Bachelor's degree in Public Relations, and having worked as a PR professional I have many times offered the inforamtion of to whom notices and where notices to the public about your situation should be presented. I have been told off on this forum many times for be a prying snooping outsider that doesn't know the aviation business.
A tried and true rule in aviation is that any airplane can stall at any altitude and speed. There is an equally true rule in advertising and marketing.
"Word of mouth is the best form of advertising." Also in that method of advertising is this rule: A customer dissatisfied with a product or service or treatment by employees will tell no less than 11 people. A content customer will not tell more than 5 people of their experience. So you take those rules to heart when you choose to slam and write in a patronizing tone to those cutomers who read this forum and offer their professional advice from the real world of business. See we the customers can choose to walk too, we can walk right on over to that other counter and buy a ticket and get to the same location that a ticket with CX would get us to. And you are certainly welcomed to, and being typical of this group likely to respond with, well then go right ahead and do that. Yep, I am convinced, and I hope Marco Polo, and Tai Cheung and the many others who have followed your situation and offered suggestion will unite and walk on over and take those new flights over the top of the world and get to and from the USA faster than CX can do it.
And the efforts that Contenintal is making to go from worst to first are really making it a pleasure to fly with them, and their world alliance partners.
Cheers and Happy Holidays.

ALL PAYING PASSENGERS of CX UNITE LETS TAKE A WALK TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TERMINAL..

Perhaps we will see how well they appreciate our money and cutomer's suggestions.

I know Contenintal, American, British Airways and others truly are listening to their customers.

[realitycx]

InUSAandObserving

Even if you do stop flying with us, please do not stop contributing to this forum. I for one value your comments. And judging by the more usual reactions to your posts, so do others.

Perhaps worth re reading Capt Pprune’s warning below. You cannot be sure who is contributing to this site or what their motivation is. Added to which, a few strokes on the keyboard cost little. The smallest amount of emotion (and there is plenty around here) can end up in a hasty, perhaps regretted, posting.

Finally, to CX management:

Piss off the employees long enough and eventually they will piss off your customers.


[This message has been edited by realitycx (edited 11 December 2000).]

[cpdude]

To InUSAandObserving,

I think your observations and suggestions are of value and it’s always a positive to be able to interact with your customers, however, we have some serious problems to deal with between the cockpit and management. It’s often impossible for a customer to notice the difference when a long haul flight operates with 2 S/O’s, the crew operates with 12 hours rest, 18 hours or a local night’s rest. All I’m saying is that these are issues that would be difficult for you to contribute to as we have enough plans and ideas all we need is to work together.

As for a private forum, we can ensure management is denied access if we use the AOA web-sight.

I agree with realitycx as you cannot be sure who is contributing to this site or what their motivation is and so replies are often too quick and from some contributors, nasty.

cpdude.

[Hemlock]

This is an interesting discussion. The PR issue is important because it creates perceived moral high ground.

You can be sure that management has some pretty serious contingency plans up its sleeve. In COS 1994 there was a "fire the lot" plan drawn up. I would expect it to have been dusted off. It could only be used with government approval. And that would be a political decision - ie would the government have public support?

The good news is that CX's PR abilities seem much more feeble these days (thanks, I believe, to a certain zoology graduate on the management who ran PR in the mid 90s!). It's question of capitalising on that.

[jagman]

InUSperson - Always been a treat to read your posts and I've said so but I think you're being a bit (surprisingly) churlish to throw in the towel now. There are always the idiots who will write bad stuff about any of our posts but you should just read those and laugh.
I think you'll find there's a lot of us who read your long and thoughtful posts with considerable interest.
Go if you will but thank you for your input anyway.

[InUSAandObserving]

Through out this past year as I have posted on this board the main people I have said you need to get your message out to are your customers. WE ARE THE ONES WHO ULTIMATELY PAY YOU. WE PAY THE HIGHER PRICES TO FLY CX.

Whether the people in management or just some antagonists have responded in the manner they have, was not so much the point. Point being the true power is we the customers, and we can make or break CX. Today with your share of the market shrinking you should pay very close attention to this fact. Without the support of the traveling public you the pilots have no chance of gaining strength. Again, we are the force driving your money packages, and guess what your rostering too, because if we weren't flying with CX there would be no roster or training or salary problems for you.
Whomever is in your PR position has failed to use a massive tool at your disposal. The statistics can speak volumes for themselves, but your leadership has failed to see this. CX's PR office may not be as well equipped as they once were, but never doubt that Swire probably has a good PR team over in the UK to call on for help.
The SCMP is not the place for your articles because you need to reach a market where many of you passengers live and fly into. As an American I am always appreciative of the new I find about the USA outside of the USA as it is often more telling. This is another reason for your need to get your messages out of your own immediate back yard and out to where the passengers travel to and from. Paris, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, San Francisco, NEW YORK, Sydney, Adelaide, Vancouver just to name a few. Because as realitycx says piss off enough of your customers here and at the terminals and your fight will be over.

[This message has been edited by InUSAandObserving (edited 12 December 2000).]