Complete Shutdown?
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Complete Shutdown?
I ask merely as a very concerned SLF (so please be gentle with me) ...
TVB news has just reported that an internal memo suggests a very strong possibility that CX could suspend its entire operation in the near future!
Any insider care to comment? Quite scary if true!
TVB news has just reported that an internal memo suggests a very strong possibility that CX could suspend its entire operation in the near future!
Any insider care to comment? Quite scary if true!
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Saturday April 12, 11:46 PM AEST
Cathay May Halt Passenger Flights in May
By Rico Ngai
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways is considering stopping all passenger flights in May due to a sharp fall in the number of travelers amid fears over SARS, the pneumonia-like epidemic that is sweeping through the former British colony.
"We forecast that the number of passengers could fall to less than 6,000 per day in May in which case we will have to consider grounding the entire passenger fleet," a Cathay Pacific's internal Internet posting sighted by Reuters said.
Cathay is currently carrying less than 10,000 passengers per day compared to the usual passenger levels of more than 30,000, the memo said.
The firm's executives were not immediately available to comment.
"We are literally hemorrhaging cash -- approximately US$3 million per day. The current strategy is simply to stem the bleeding and buy time," Nick Rhodes, Cathay Director of Flight Operations said in the grave memo.
Rhodes was citing a briefing given by the airline's chief executive officer David Turnbull on Friday.
Rhodes said the airline currently has canceled about 42 percent of its flights and the remaining flights are operating at a load factor of 30-35 percent. Load factor indicates the number of paying customers as a proportion of seats available.
Hong Kong's Airport Authority said on Saturday about 33 percent of the total number of scheduled flights for April has been canceled.
Cathay, Asia's fourth largest airline with a turnover of more than HK$33 billion (US$4.23 billion) in 2002, issued its first-ever profit warning on Friday citing adverse impacts by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus and the war on Iraq.
The warning hammered Cathay's shares to their 16-month low, closing at HK$8.95 on Friday. They had lost nearly a quarter of their value in the last three weeks when SARS first reared its head in Hong Kong in March.
Uncertainties ahead of the airline increased when the World Health Organization issued an advisory on April 2 urging travelers to postpone visits to Hong Kong in light of the city's failure to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease.
Cathay has already stopped all "non-essential" expenditure and it is offering voluntary unpaid leave.
"If there is not a miracle cure for SARS soon and a sudden withdrawal of the WHO advisory against travel to Hong Kong, the cuts are going to have to be deeper," the memo said.
The measures include involuntary unpaid leave and job sharing, it said.
"Whatever scheme is agreed, the company is determined that every employee will share the pain equally. We are all in this together," it said.
"Even if all employees worked for nothing at present, we would still be losing nearly US$2 million per day. Any savings will only buy time," it added
Cathay May Halt Passenger Flights in May
By Rico Ngai
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways is considering stopping all passenger flights in May due to a sharp fall in the number of travelers amid fears over SARS, the pneumonia-like epidemic that is sweeping through the former British colony.
"We forecast that the number of passengers could fall to less than 6,000 per day in May in which case we will have to consider grounding the entire passenger fleet," a Cathay Pacific's internal Internet posting sighted by Reuters said.
Cathay is currently carrying less than 10,000 passengers per day compared to the usual passenger levels of more than 30,000, the memo said.
The firm's executives were not immediately available to comment.
"We are literally hemorrhaging cash -- approximately US$3 million per day. The current strategy is simply to stem the bleeding and buy time," Nick Rhodes, Cathay Director of Flight Operations said in the grave memo.
Rhodes was citing a briefing given by the airline's chief executive officer David Turnbull on Friday.
Rhodes said the airline currently has canceled about 42 percent of its flights and the remaining flights are operating at a load factor of 30-35 percent. Load factor indicates the number of paying customers as a proportion of seats available.
Hong Kong's Airport Authority said on Saturday about 33 percent of the total number of scheduled flights for April has been canceled.
Cathay, Asia's fourth largest airline with a turnover of more than HK$33 billion (US$4.23 billion) in 2002, issued its first-ever profit warning on Friday citing adverse impacts by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus and the war on Iraq.
The warning hammered Cathay's shares to their 16-month low, closing at HK$8.95 on Friday. They had lost nearly a quarter of their value in the last three weeks when SARS first reared its head in Hong Kong in March.
Uncertainties ahead of the airline increased when the World Health Organization issued an advisory on April 2 urging travelers to postpone visits to Hong Kong in light of the city's failure to contain the spread of the pneumonia-like disease.
Cathay has already stopped all "non-essential" expenditure and it is offering voluntary unpaid leave.
"If there is not a miracle cure for SARS soon and a sudden withdrawal of the WHO advisory against travel to Hong Kong, the cuts are going to have to be deeper," the memo said.
The measures include involuntary unpaid leave and job sharing, it said.
"Whatever scheme is agreed, the company is determined that every employee will share the pain equally. We are all in this together," it said.
"Even if all employees worked for nothing at present, we would still be losing nearly US$2 million per day. Any savings will only buy time," it added
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Cathay's Press statement on 12th April:
<<Cathay Pacific has no plans to stop operation
Cathay Pacific has no plans as of now to stop operation at any future date.
Despite the current difficult situation with 42% of the Cathay Pacific schedule cancelled, the airline is maintaining its network and providing scheduled services as much as possible.
Cathay Pacific has considered a number of contingency measures to maintain its services, preserve cash and minimize expenditure. Some of these measures are already in place such as stopping all promotional and advertising activities. More measures will be implemented as and when necessary. We certainly hope the situation will improve soon. Cathay Pacific will continue to work closely with the Hong Kong community to overcome the
current challenges together.>>
<<Cathay Pacific has no plans to stop operation
Cathay Pacific has no plans as of now to stop operation at any future date.
Despite the current difficult situation with 42% of the Cathay Pacific schedule cancelled, the airline is maintaining its network and providing scheduled services as much as possible.
Cathay Pacific has considered a number of contingency measures to maintain its services, preserve cash and minimize expenditure. Some of these measures are already in place such as stopping all promotional and advertising activities. More measures will be implemented as and when necessary. We certainly hope the situation will improve soon. Cathay Pacific will continue to work closely with the Hong Kong community to overcome the
current challenges together.>>
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This was 'leaked' out by someone who clearly wants to see the airline fall apart, possibly someone who lost their job?!
I hope now that all of you who are still paying 5% to the union to keep these people will seriously reconsider if this is the thanks you get for it.
I hope now that all of you who are still paying 5% to the union to keep these people will seriously reconsider if this is the thanks you get for it.
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moosey
The info was put on the anthraCX site where any CURRENT EMPLOYEE can see it.
If Nick wants to go around shaking the cage with suspect quotes on the company website, then he may want to give the communications dept a call first.
5% huh? Showing your intimate knowledge of the present situation.
The info was put on the anthraCX site where any CURRENT EMPLOYEE can see it.
If Nick wants to go around shaking the cage with suspect quotes on the company website, then he may want to give the communications dept a call first.
5% huh? Showing your intimate knowledge of the present situation.
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Let's stop the union/management rhetoric for a second. I think this goes well beyond the realm of such discussion.
It's a bad time for everyone, not only the pilots, but the cabin crew, ground staff, etc. The unfortunate thing is that there is no way to predict when the epidemic will be contained. Original estimates of the summertime may perhaps be a bit optimistic. In light of this, I'm not surprised about the shutdown at all. Now whether or not it's just unpaid leave, or actual layoffs (which I assume will be coming), I'm hoping is just the former.
And would Cathay recover if it does end? Has this done irrepairable damage to the Hong Kong economy?
Have to stay optimistic, I suppose.
It's a bad time for everyone, not only the pilots, but the cabin crew, ground staff, etc. The unfortunate thing is that there is no way to predict when the epidemic will be contained. Original estimates of the summertime may perhaps be a bit optimistic. In light of this, I'm not surprised about the shutdown at all. Now whether or not it's just unpaid leave, or actual layoffs (which I assume will be coming), I'm hoping is just the former.
And would Cathay recover if it does end? Has this done irrepairable damage to the Hong Kong economy?
Have to stay optimistic, I suppose.
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Cathay is quite a large company, and what Nick Rhodes said is definitely not confined to the pilots alone. All you need is one dumbass with a triggerfinger to leak this info to his or her cousin who works at the T.V. station, and that would be it.
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We are in deep trouble here, it was like a ghost town when I came throught the terminal yesterday. I reckon the loads are even lower than the press suggest. The only way to protect the business may well be to stop flying altogether and ride out the storm. Us truckies will keep flying the freight so there is something to rebuild from.
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Just my 2-pence worth, and I'm trying to cheer you guys up....
I think this should be analysed as a temporary blip for CX, not a requirement for fundamental re-structuring such as we are seeing here in the US. When this epidemic passes, Asian travel will rebound in its normal high-yield way...I think, and hope, that N.R. and the other managers at CX are smart enough not to force downsizing prematurely, or tinker with a business model that clearly matched Hong Kong well. You want to keep as many of your folks landing current and ready to respond for the inevitable re-bound....
Hope I'm right, hope you guys are okay...best wishes under difficult circumstances.
I think this should be analysed as a temporary blip for CX, not a requirement for fundamental re-structuring such as we are seeing here in the US. When this epidemic passes, Asian travel will rebound in its normal high-yield way...I think, and hope, that N.R. and the other managers at CX are smart enough not to force downsizing prematurely, or tinker with a business model that clearly matched Hong Kong well. You want to keep as many of your folks landing current and ready to respond for the inevitable re-bound....
Hope I'm right, hope you guys are okay...best wishes under difficult circumstances.
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jtr I fly classic, so if seniority is taken into account then those above me will need to be trained back onto the classic. We all hope it is short lived so there is not much point doing that if they then have to be re-trained back again. It is a huge problem and management will have to consider some drastic options which will not be to everyone's liking.
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74, we all have it pretty well spelled out in the contract, retraining or not, the fact of the matter is, there are a bit under 1000 people who hold seniority to you (I assume you joined the list when everyone else did) which means, if CX are going to lay peolpe off, and if they are going to adhere to the contract (big if), then it is last on, first off, just like it says on your contract. Don't see anything about involuntary unpaid leave, or anything similar in the contract, just redundancies.
Sadly the feeling might be different if it weren't for the current climate, but in simple terms, try telling a 9 year f/o why he should take unpaid leave so that the freighter Captain who took his command slot, and the S/O who joined against the ban don't get laid off.
I don't wish redundancy on anyone, but should it come to that, then there is a mechanism in place for that. If it gets that far up the list that it starts to affect those on the freighter, then imo your saving grace may be that they don't want to retrain guys twice (assuming things will pick up) so they may keep you on, whilst paying guys above you to sit on their asses at home.
I know it is a complex issue, but in simple terms, there is a procedure in place, a contractual obligation between employee, and employer, and if they want to start screwing with it, they are just going to have to spend more time in court.
Looking foward to shortly's wisdom
Sadly the feeling might be different if it weren't for the current climate, but in simple terms, try telling a 9 year f/o why he should take unpaid leave so that the freighter Captain who took his command slot, and the S/O who joined against the ban don't get laid off.
I don't wish redundancy on anyone, but should it come to that, then there is a mechanism in place for that. If it gets that far up the list that it starts to affect those on the freighter, then imo your saving grace may be that they don't want to retrain guys twice (assuming things will pick up) so they may keep you on, whilst paying guys above you to sit on their asses at home.
I know it is a complex issue, but in simple terms, there is a procedure in place, a contractual obligation between employee, and employer, and if they want to start screwing with it, they are just going to have to spend more time in court.
Looking foward to shortly's wisdom
Grandpa Aerotart
I posted this on D&G...I'm just stunned at what Govts are letting the media get away with. At some point we're going to have to get media controls before these morons destroy the world economy single handed...what did more economic damage to the US...the 9/11 terrorists or the media/govt over reaction after??
A Doctor, who happens to be a old friend of my Uncle, was interviewed on a Sydney radio station today...he's a Virologist or whatever the specialist label is for this sort of bug.
He's simply dismayed at the level of panic caused by media and Govt alike over what is, essentially, nothing.
One statistic he used was 35000/annum die of Typical Flu in the US...think about that !!...it's nearly 100/day, every day, week in and week out, year after year.
What are we up to now...200 spread over Asia and North America in the last several months...even if it was 2000 is it worth the reaction being ellicited by frenzied Media bored with the war?
60 Minutes report last night drew direct comparisons with 1919 Flu pandemic and the Black Plague...suggesting 747s are the rats of the 21st century
They ask Doctors who have been working around the clock and who are exhausted leading questions get the sort of emotional answers which lead to panic, and do so with no thought other than to ratings.
What price freedom of the press?
40 million people died of Flu in Europe over something like 2 years just after WW1...that's 55555/day...in a period in history before anyone understood personal hygene and before antiviral drugs were invented.
Where's the comparison??
A few times every century a bug comes along and knocks off a chunk of the population...this, in the Doctors professional opinion, is not one of those.
Chuck
A Doctor, who happens to be a old friend of my Uncle, was interviewed on a Sydney radio station today...he's a Virologist or whatever the specialist label is for this sort of bug.
He's simply dismayed at the level of panic caused by media and Govt alike over what is, essentially, nothing.
One statistic he used was 35000/annum die of Typical Flu in the US...think about that !!...it's nearly 100/day, every day, week in and week out, year after year.
What are we up to now...200 spread over Asia and North America in the last several months...even if it was 2000 is it worth the reaction being ellicited by frenzied Media bored with the war?
60 Minutes report last night drew direct comparisons with 1919 Flu pandemic and the Black Plague...suggesting 747s are the rats of the 21st century
They ask Doctors who have been working around the clock and who are exhausted leading questions get the sort of emotional answers which lead to panic, and do so with no thought other than to ratings.
What price freedom of the press?
40 million people died of Flu in Europe over something like 2 years just after WW1...that's 55555/day...in a period in history before anyone understood personal hygene and before antiviral drugs were invented.
Where's the comparison??
A few times every century a bug comes along and knocks off a chunk of the population...this, in the Doctors professional opinion, is not one of those.
Chuck
Last edited by Chimbu chuckles; 14th Apr 2003 at 23:02.