New Cost Cutting really cuts the Mustard at CX
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: FL450
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
New Cost Cutting really cuts the Mustard at CX
PRESS RELEASE - Cathay City Date: recently
Cathay Pacific new cost containment efforts have reached new pioneering areas with the withdrawal of 'salt & pepper' from the mean trays of passenger meals. This innovative move will really cut the mustard and mini tabasco sauce bottles.
Passengers must now ask or request for 'Salt & Pepper' if they wish to add to the experience of flying Asia's Small-Minded Airline.
Imagine the chaos in the cabin if one day every passenger asked for 'salt & pepper' as the meal is presented..... The cabin crew have been told not to place the salt & pepper' on the trollies and go to the galley to retrieve the new stylish clear-view plastic salt & pepper' sachets.
Who on earth came up with such an innovative plan?
Cathay Pacific new cost containment efforts have reached new pioneering areas with the withdrawal of 'salt & pepper' from the mean trays of passenger meals. This innovative move will really cut the mustard and mini tabasco sauce bottles.
Passengers must now ask or request for 'Salt & Pepper' if they wish to add to the experience of flying Asia's Small-Minded Airline.
Imagine the chaos in the cabin if one day every passenger asked for 'salt & pepper' as the meal is presented..... The cabin crew have been told not to place the salt & pepper' on the trollies and go to the galley to retrieve the new stylish clear-view plastic salt & pepper' sachets.
Who on earth came up with such an innovative plan?
Some bright spark. They must be saving millions and millions with this latest brilliant decision.
Seriously, it is down right embarrassing and imagine what the full fare paying pax must think. Ridiculous idea!
b.
Seriously, it is down right embarrassing and imagine what the full fare paying pax must think. Ridiculous idea!
b.
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Location Location
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This board can be quite amusing at times. This wasn't a cost-cutting measure, so whoever presented it as such is misinformed. Salt / pepper were removed from individual pax tray prep as part of a larger effort to optimize cabin crew time dealing with pax assistance and pre-flight prep. That's an issue that came from pax feedback.
Are you ready for this.... the salt and pepper... are actually.... physically... in the aircraft. Unreal isn't it? 1 in 40 pax actually use the salt and or pepper presented with the pax meal. So instead of crew wasting time prepping salt / pepper for 39 pax who won't use it, it's more time effective to just bring it to the one gwailo who isn't content with the sodium content of his preheated meal.
Enjoy your salt and pepper.
Are you ready for this.... the salt and pepper... are actually.... physically... in the aircraft. Unreal isn't it? 1 in 40 pax actually use the salt and or pepper presented with the pax meal. So instead of crew wasting time prepping salt / pepper for 39 pax who won't use it, it's more time effective to just bring it to the one gwailo who isn't content with the sodium content of his preheated meal.
Enjoy your salt and pepper.
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: the land of chocolate
Posts: 440
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Shutterbug, 1 in 40 using either salt or pepper seems a little low to me.
Who would bother to ask for one?
Either way those plastic tubs are kinda tacky for business.
I wonder what the passengers think.
Who would bother to ask for one?
Either way those plastic tubs are kinda tacky for business.
I wonder what the passengers think.
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Location Location
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
@Oasis
I hear you. Ditto. Had this conversation already. Almost verbatim funnily enough. Long story short, what pax want is more individual attention from crew, and no extra crew were going to be assigned to that end. Apparently the entire service plan was examined in excruciating detail and whatever changes were made, were made to that end. Our amazement to this curious outcome notwithstanding, basically crew were told to squeeze blood from a rock… but the salt and pepper sufficed.
@Silberfuchs
As mentioned. Not cost cutting, old chap. Time management.
I hear you. Ditto. Had this conversation already. Almost verbatim funnily enough. Long story short, what pax want is more individual attention from crew, and no extra crew were going to be assigned to that end. Apparently the entire service plan was examined in excruciating detail and whatever changes were made, were made to that end. Our amazement to this curious outcome notwithstanding, basically crew were told to squeeze blood from a rock… but the salt and pepper sufficed.
@Silberfuchs
As mentioned. Not cost cutting, old chap. Time management.
Last edited by Shutterbug; 3rd Nov 2013 at 12:20.
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Age: 47
Posts: 1,007
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I know a better fix, treat their staff with a bit more respect and then the cabin crew wont rush through the service then disappear, only to be seen once every hour rushing through the cabin looking at their feet hoping not to be grabbed and asked for a drink or food.
Also what is with this new policy of no movies on flights under 2:40? What if you want to finish the movie you started on the previous sector. Who comes up with these rules? They are making the service on CX flights worse not better.
Also what is with this new policy of no movies on flights under 2:40? What if you want to finish the movie you started on the previous sector. Who comes up with these rules? They are making the service on CX flights worse not better.
short flights long nights
What if you are happy just to watch half a movie?
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: VHHH
Posts: 199
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Don't worry people, coming back from Rome the other day (day light flight) we ran out of the expresso coffee during first service. Only half the Italians got their fresh coffee, the other half nearly died on the filter coffee that was served afterwards.
After all, we give service straight from the heart.....
Go that extra mile for passengers......
It's the little things that count......
Shall I go on?
Cathay - has lost the plot. We have cut back so much in the last few years (to save money) and talking with a few passengers in the concourse waiting for trains and such, they ask me why? I can't give them an answer but politely offer my apologies.
Can the big-wigs upstairs who make these decisions please tell me why we are a first class airline with premium service when nearly all the time we run out of food, drink, papers and are now serving Premium passengers with salt and pepper sachets that look like they have come from a 1-star hotel?
Cost cutting gone wrong....
After all, we give service straight from the heart.....
Go that extra mile for passengers......
It's the little things that count......
Shall I go on?
Cathay - has lost the plot. We have cut back so much in the last few years (to save money) and talking with a few passengers in the concourse waiting for trains and such, they ask me why? I can't give them an answer but politely offer my apologies.
Can the big-wigs upstairs who make these decisions please tell me why we are a first class airline with premium service when nearly all the time we run out of food, drink, papers and are now serving Premium passengers with salt and pepper sachets that look like they have come from a 1-star hotel?
Cost cutting gone wrong....
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Kowloon
Posts: 286
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You can bet on the farm that there are many worse carriers out there these days, with lower pay and worse welfare. But if those carriers can deliver great service with a smile and passion, why are we still stagnant with a b*tch face scrambling down the aisle so to avoid being asked for water? Don't blame it on your condiments, folks. 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: HK- A little bit of industrial China in every breath you take.
Posts: 508
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hey! Don't supply bog roll! Only give it to the ones who yell out from the inadequately cleaned and stocked toilet, "Hey! Theres no paper in here!!!" Slide a few squares of paper under the door, Then report a level 4 disturbance from an unruly passenger, barricade them in, and saving even more than you did from stealing his salt and pepper! 
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: FL450
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Shutterbug if you, and only IF, you ask do you get. The Cabin Crew have been told not to place these on the trolley along with the chili sauce etc. so your assessment as part of a time & motion study is like ones bowels - a bit weak and very fluid in their consistency. If you are defending it so much maybe you are one of the 'Sparkies' behind this move?
I'm sure that they HAVE cut down on the bog rolls. The sheets are now so thin you need to use twice as much for the same bot-bot wiping requirement.
Geniuses.
Geniuses.
Last edited by Captain Dart; 4th Nov 2013 at 08:17.
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Location Location
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
@exitfirstright
LMFAO. It's your thread sister. Own that ****.
Yes, it was me. All me. I confess. I'm a linear descendant of John Swire. Unfortunately, after 12 generations of inbreeding, cursed with fatal dimwittedness, I was relegated to a cubicle in the backwaters of our vast empire... and landed fatefully at your doorstep just in time to mastermind The Great Salt and Pepper Debacle of 2013. You nailed it, you sleuth you. Since I've been outed as the Evil Genius behind this blatant travesty, I'll also own up to Weapons of Mass Destruction, Guantanamo, the HKMA dollar peg, Hugh Jackman's Oscar nomination, and Henry Tang's basement embroglio. Fatally rigging the meal services was more of a hobby project.
LMFAO. It's your thread sister. Own that ****.
If you are defending it so much maybe you are one of the 'Sparkies' behind this move?
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Kowloon
Posts: 286
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Does cost cutting include this? 
Cathay campaigns against flight attendants' unwise internet posts | South China Morning Post
Cathay campaigns against flight attendants' unwise internet posts
Cathay Pacific has posted a video on YouTube featuring real-life images of flight attendants behaving badly in a campaign to get cabin crew not to embarrass themselves and the airline with their Facebook postings.
The video includes a picture of a male flight attendant appearing to smoke a cigarette in the galley of a plane, which went up on Facebook and led to his firing, and another of a woman flight attendant putting her shoeless feet on to a seat opposite her on an airport bus.
The animated video is part of an internal social-media education campaign to get across the message to flight attendants that posting inappropriate images or comments about work online can damage the reputation of themselves and the company.
It follows a series of incidents where injudicious postings on Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media have led to stories appearing in newspapers and in some cases disciplinary action against the employees involved.
The flight attendant appearing to smoke was actually using dry ice and a fake cigarette, according to his union, but he lost his job after the image was circulated among crew members and ended up in a Chinese-language newspaper.
Cathay's two-minute video, posted to a non-public YouTube forum, advises flight attendants to "respect our brand" and tells them not to "present our logo and uniforms in a way that is open to ridicule".
Its commentary says: "If in doubt, leave it out … Make sure what you are saying doesn't harm the company's reputation or your reputation as CX cabin crew. If you wouldn't say it on board, don't say it online."
It also urges them not to air work grievances about schedules or passengers online, telling them that comments can be picked up and used by newspapers and others and that what they post online is there forever.
Dora Lai Yuk-sim, chairwoman of the Cathay Pacific Flight Attendants Union, said she supported the company's campaign.
"Some crew members will post anything, and it does put others in trouble, especially when it's shared," she said. "It really does damage not only Cathay Pacific's reputation but our reputation as cabin crew as well."
She said she hoped this social-media awareness policy "will help people understand what they are doing and what they may face".
A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said the response from employees to the video had been positive.
"They appreciate that we have a social-media etiquette [that is meant] to protect them as individuals as much as the company as a whole," she said.
"We support open dialogue and view social networking as a positive aspect of communication. We also fully respect the rights of our staff to use such sites as networking and self-expression media.
"In fact, for our cabin crew, we have developed an internal social enterprise networking app called iCrew. [It] is purpose-built for cabin crew and allows them to collaborate on work-related matters as well as share experiences with their colleagues in a safe and fun environment.
"The video is simply a part of an ongoing effort to remind our staff of our social-media etiquette - to share thoughts and ideas and photos with respect and in keeping with company policies."
Cathay campaigns against flight attendants' unwise internet posts | South China Morning Post
Cathay campaigns against flight attendants' unwise internet posts
Cathay Pacific has posted a video on YouTube featuring real-life images of flight attendants behaving badly in a campaign to get cabin crew not to embarrass themselves and the airline with their Facebook postings.
The video includes a picture of a male flight attendant appearing to smoke a cigarette in the galley of a plane, which went up on Facebook and led to his firing, and another of a woman flight attendant putting her shoeless feet on to a seat opposite her on an airport bus.
The animated video is part of an internal social-media education campaign to get across the message to flight attendants that posting inappropriate images or comments about work online can damage the reputation of themselves and the company.
It follows a series of incidents where injudicious postings on Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media have led to stories appearing in newspapers and in some cases disciplinary action against the employees involved.
The flight attendant appearing to smoke was actually using dry ice and a fake cigarette, according to his union, but he lost his job after the image was circulated among crew members and ended up in a Chinese-language newspaper.
Cathay's two-minute video, posted to a non-public YouTube forum, advises flight attendants to "respect our brand" and tells them not to "present our logo and uniforms in a way that is open to ridicule".
Its commentary says: "If in doubt, leave it out … Make sure what you are saying doesn't harm the company's reputation or your reputation as CX cabin crew. If you wouldn't say it on board, don't say it online."
It also urges them not to air work grievances about schedules or passengers online, telling them that comments can be picked up and used by newspapers and others and that what they post online is there forever.
Dora Lai Yuk-sim, chairwoman of the Cathay Pacific Flight Attendants Union, said she supported the company's campaign.
"Some crew members will post anything, and it does put others in trouble, especially when it's shared," she said. "It really does damage not only Cathay Pacific's reputation but our reputation as cabin crew as well."
She said she hoped this social-media awareness policy "will help people understand what they are doing and what they may face".
A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said the response from employees to the video had been positive.
"They appreciate that we have a social-media etiquette [that is meant] to protect them as individuals as much as the company as a whole," she said.
"We support open dialogue and view social networking as a positive aspect of communication. We also fully respect the rights of our staff to use such sites as networking and self-expression media.
"In fact, for our cabin crew, we have developed an internal social enterprise networking app called iCrew. [It] is purpose-built for cabin crew and allows them to collaborate on work-related matters as well as share experiences with their colleagues in a safe and fun environment.
"The video is simply a part of an ongoing effort to remind our staff of our social-media etiquette - to share thoughts and ideas and photos with respect and in keeping with company policies."
