This Friday?
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Hopefully this helps those who don't have remaining articles... Or just use Chrome in incognito mode.
Cathay Pacific’s board of directors is expected to back a restructuring plan early this week that includes staff redundancies and pay cuts in a bid to keep Hong Kong’s flag carrier afloat, the Post has learned.
Employees will learn their fate before Friday but the Hong Kong government, which extended an economic lifeline to Cathay in June, is trying to pressure the company to offer more generous exit packages to the laid-off workers, according to multiple sources.
The restructuring comes after a months-long review of how Cathay should adapt to the collapse in demand for air travel due to the
coronavirus pandemic. Shallow cuts were being planned, one source said, to position the company to take advantage of an upturn in demand. But if that uptick fails to happen, the airline could be forced into making another round of redundancies.
The shake-up could be similar to what rival Singapore Airlines underwent when it secured S$11 billion (US$8.1 billion) in funding to shore up liquidity in the summer and axed 4,300 staff – about a fifth of its total workforce.
As of last week, Cathay was still finalising the cuts and whether they should be made to overall headcount or total job positions. Each option delivers a separate number and the lower one will be more palatable to the public.At a time when the airline seeks to slim down its workforce, newcomer Greater Bay Airlines could end up taking on some of its former staff. The start-up, which is eyeing the rights to fly lucrative mainland and Asia-Pacific routes, launched its first public hiring effort last weekend to bolster its application for permits to operate out of the city.
A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said: “We do not comment on speculation.”
The airline did not reapply for the government’s latest round of the wage subsidy scheme, which requires participants to maintain staffing levels.
The company has until now been the most conservative in the industry with redundancies, according to Luya You, transport analyst at brokerage Bocom International.
“A rough estimate would be 20 to 30 per cent [of the workforce to be cut], simply because that’s what we’ve seen with other carriers of Cathay‘s size operating under similar capacity levels,” You said.
“But this still entirely depends on Cathay’s restructuring vision. Lay-offs could be much greater if the restructuring implies permanently shrinking operations that would not [require] mass rehiring once demand recovers further.”
The airline is also facing pressure to pay back the government’s share of the HK$39 billion (US$5.03 billion) bailout package. Taxpayers stumped up HK$27.3 billion in the form of preference shares and a bridging loan that has yet to be drawn down as of late September.
Cathay Pacific racked up a record HK$9.87 billion net loss in the first six months of the year and continues to burn through as much as HK$2 billion a month.
In March, the airline closed its cabin crew base in Vancouver, affecting 147 jobs. The following month, it shut down its American cabin crew network spread across New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco affecting 286 staff.
Cutting a third of staff would be roughly in line with what other airlines have done to remain afloat as Covid-19 hammers demand for travel. Qantas axed 8,500 jobs or almost 30 per cent of staff, while British Airways earmarked 13,000 out of 42,300 employees for redundancies, but the final number could be lower after union intervention.
Employees will learn their fate before Friday but the Hong Kong government, which extended an economic lifeline to Cathay in June, is trying to pressure the company to offer more generous exit packages to the laid-off workers, according to multiple sources.
The restructuring comes after a months-long review of how Cathay should adapt to the collapse in demand for air travel due to the
coronavirus pandemic. Shallow cuts were being planned, one source said, to position the company to take advantage of an upturn in demand. But if that uptick fails to happen, the airline could be forced into making another round of redundancies.
The shake-up could be similar to what rival Singapore Airlines underwent when it secured S$11 billion (US$8.1 billion) in funding to shore up liquidity in the summer and axed 4,300 staff – about a fifth of its total workforce.
As of last week, Cathay was still finalising the cuts and whether they should be made to overall headcount or total job positions. Each option delivers a separate number and the lower one will be more palatable to the public.At a time when the airline seeks to slim down its workforce, newcomer Greater Bay Airlines could end up taking on some of its former staff. The start-up, which is eyeing the rights to fly lucrative mainland and Asia-Pacific routes, launched its first public hiring effort last weekend to bolster its application for permits to operate out of the city.
A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said: “We do not comment on speculation.”
The airline did not reapply for the government’s latest round of the wage subsidy scheme, which requires participants to maintain staffing levels.
The company has until now been the most conservative in the industry with redundancies, according to Luya You, transport analyst at brokerage Bocom International.
“A rough estimate would be 20 to 30 per cent [of the workforce to be cut], simply because that’s what we’ve seen with other carriers of Cathay‘s size operating under similar capacity levels,” You said.
“But this still entirely depends on Cathay’s restructuring vision. Lay-offs could be much greater if the restructuring implies permanently shrinking operations that would not [require] mass rehiring once demand recovers further.”
The airline is also facing pressure to pay back the government’s share of the HK$39 billion (US$5.03 billion) bailout package. Taxpayers stumped up HK$27.3 billion in the form of preference shares and a bridging loan that has yet to be drawn down as of late September.
Cathay Pacific racked up a record HK$9.87 billion net loss in the first six months of the year and continues to burn through as much as HK$2 billion a month.
In March, the airline closed its cabin crew base in Vancouver, affecting 147 jobs. The following month, it shut down its American cabin crew network spread across New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco affecting 286 staff.
Cutting a third of staff would be roughly in line with what other airlines have done to remain afloat as Covid-19 hammers demand for travel. Qantas axed 8,500 jobs or almost 30 per cent of staff, while British Airways earmarked 13,000 out of 42,300 employees for redundancies, but the final number could be lower after union intervention.
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His job on the line too. Old fake news that's been around for months. Time for the SCMP to get real and get a real aviation reporter in place. maybe a job for a soon to be redundant pilot. Any takers.
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The analogy I use is this :
The Swire approach to a plant that is dying is to continually prune it back until it starts to recover. Cut, cut,cut and hope for the best.
What is needed is to re-pot the plant with new soil, change the watering regime, place in a different ligh/sun environment and tend to it's needs.
Also very important not to overfeed with fertilizer.
Time to change the gardener.
The Swire approach to a plant that is dying is to continually prune it back until it starts to recover. Cut, cut,cut and hope for the best.
What is needed is to re-pot the plant with new soil, change the watering regime, place in a different ligh/sun environment and tend to it's needs.
Also very important not to overfeed with fertilizer.
Time to change the gardener.
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CATHAY PAC AIR Sep Passenger Vol -98.1%, Sees 2021 PAX Flight Capacity 50% Below Normal Level
https://www.aastocks.com/share/news/...9687/?lang=Eng
Best outlook for 2021 is to operate at 50% of normal capacity.
https://www.aastocks.com/share/news/...9687/?lang=Eng
Best outlook for 2021 is to operate at 50% of normal capacity.
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Note: 50% is the "BEST" outlook !!! Personally, looking at worldwide sentiment re #ChinaVirus + any type of travel would make 50 % a big big win.. I think not, CERTAINLY to HK & China..
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I know a few locals, (like most!), who won't mourn the shedding of the expat hordes. Yes, you read it here first, expats to make way for locals. Its only right, old chap.
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Other Major Airlines ?
AA, UA, SW, BA, DL, LH etc. ALL have very big domestic operations which will recover first. International routes will suffer most and will be the slowest to recover and as CX has not one domestic route, well, you do the math..
I believe your 20-30% cuts are extremely optimistic for CX as additionally the vultures from the North are circling and want a bigger slice of the international pie.
I hope I'm wrong.
I believe your 20-30% cuts are extremely optimistic for CX as additionally the vultures from the North are circling and want a bigger slice of the international pie.
I hope I'm wrong.
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Possible layoffs have absolutely nothing to do with "the north". This is a global crisis.
Nobody wants "in" and "crush", they are already in and own the place. It is not in the interest of China to harm the economy of Hong Kong or to drive away foreign shareholders. If anything, they want to attract foreign investment. Hong Kong is China.
Nobody wants "in" and "crush", they are already in and own the place. It is not in the interest of China to harm the economy of Hong Kong or to drive away foreign shareholders. If anything, they want to attract foreign investment. Hong Kong is China.
Last edited by Sam Ting Wong; 20th Oct 2020 at 06:57.
My suspicion is that the board of directors have a plan in mind, but the government observers are doing everything to block the plan in the interest of saving as many local jobs as possible. After all it doesn't look good for the government to invest billions into CX only to have few thousand crying chinese girls moaning for their dream taken away on TVB news.
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Do you mean the discrimination between license holders (150 hours of supervised flying over Aussi dirt doesn't make a pilot) and experienced aircrew who wouldn't come to HKG from non-commie, clean air, healthy lifestyle, great places to live countries without a financial incentive?
You get paid what you are worth. Regardless of wuhan virus, CX can't afford to loose too many expats. Too many cadet pilots flying together will result in smoking holes.
You get paid what you are worth. Regardless of wuhan virus, CX can't afford to loose too many expats. Too many cadet pilots flying together will result in smoking holes.
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AB335
Weird that the few press releases by the HKG government have clearly stated they want to be paid back for their investment in CX and completely understand the restructuring will involve job losses. But why bother reading the facts.
Weird that the few press releases by the HKG government have clearly stated they want to be paid back for their investment in CX and completely understand the restructuring will involve job losses. But why bother reading the facts.