The merits of pushing productivity goals until something breaks
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The merits of pushing productivity goals until something breaks
From Cathay Pacific pilots go public over safety concerns | Plane Talking
It must have been a shock in Hong Kong when its leading English language newspaper recently published a serious warning by Cathay Pacific pilots that it was undermining safety standards with tough new flying duty rosters.
Cathay Pacific is synonymous with Hong Kong. It has one of the most trusted and admired brands in aviation world wide when it comes to long haul flying.
The dispute that has arisen over the airline adopting lower standards in pilot rostering because ‘other airlines are doing it’ is thus highly disturbing at a number of levels, and raises much broader issues about the merits of pushing productivity goals until something breaks.
The pilot letter is published in full by the South China Morning Post at this link Read in full: Letter 'exhausted' Cathay Pacific pilots sent to bosses claiming safety is under threat | South China Morning Post, which appears to be outside a paywall.
Which is not to say that the management of Cathay Pacific is wrong in these matters.
The awkward question for fair minded parties is whether or not it is right in the cut throat business of airline competition to liquidate or monetize the generational investment in quality that the leading legacy carriers have made, and pile on the pressure on labor and machines until something fails.
If Cathay Pacific can’t survive and prosper without joining the downward spiral so evident in some other carriers then people need to pause in their criticism of its management and feel some sympathy for those who must decide how far they can go to save the airline without destroying it.
Unfortunately in aviation, when something does fail it can come with devastating cost in losses of lives, as well as brand and stock values.
(There is, at a different level, a parallel between the seemingly insane rush by airlines, even quality ones, to render the seating and toilets so tight that passengers endure bone pain for hours and can’t even attend to essential hygiene.)
It must have been a shock in Hong Kong when its leading English language newspaper recently published a serious warning by Cathay Pacific pilots that it was undermining safety standards with tough new flying duty rosters.
Cathay Pacific is synonymous with Hong Kong. It has one of the most trusted and admired brands in aviation world wide when it comes to long haul flying.
The dispute that has arisen over the airline adopting lower standards in pilot rostering because ‘other airlines are doing it’ is thus highly disturbing at a number of levels, and raises much broader issues about the merits of pushing productivity goals until something breaks.
The pilot letter is published in full by the South China Morning Post at this link Read in full: Letter 'exhausted' Cathay Pacific pilots sent to bosses claiming safety is under threat | South China Morning Post, which appears to be outside a paywall.
Which is not to say that the management of Cathay Pacific is wrong in these matters.
The awkward question for fair minded parties is whether or not it is right in the cut throat business of airline competition to liquidate or monetize the generational investment in quality that the leading legacy carriers have made, and pile on the pressure on labor and machines until something fails.
If Cathay Pacific can’t survive and prosper without joining the downward spiral so evident in some other carriers then people need to pause in their criticism of its management and feel some sympathy for those who must decide how far they can go to save the airline without destroying it.
Unfortunately in aviation, when something does fail it can come with devastating cost in losses of lives, as well as brand and stock values.
(There is, at a different level, a parallel between the seemingly insane rush by airlines, even quality ones, to render the seating and toilets so tight that passengers endure bone pain for hours and can’t even attend to essential hygiene.)
