Shareholders flay Cathay
 

From the SCMP
Shareholders came down heavily on management at the AGM for CX's declining image as HK premium airline and the big bonuses received by its management, despite the poor performance of the company stock
John Slosar denied the carrier had lost any of its premium appeal He went on to say that ten years ago Cathay was much less of a premium airline than it is today
Shareholders asked about a dividend increase when management continue to pay themselves bonuses.
Cathay shares have lost 37% over the last year
Chu's salary and bonus rose to 10.1 million up from 7.37 in 2014
Rupert Hogg received HK$ 11.12 up from 6.52 million
Slosar who's pay dropped to 1.98m down from 7.73m

when you read comments like these from management you realize just how far out of touch with reality they are . People are complaining already Yet they want to add more seats in EY in the 777 making it 10 abreast
From the report Slosar stated " we are always looking for ways to add more seats because more seats probably means more revenue and more revenue probably means more profit

There you go John, I fixed that for you.


Now, how about that... The shareholders themselves are waking up to the smell of rotting coffee.
Let's see if they treat their shareholders with the same humility and respect they treat their employees and tell them to go stuff themselves.

Yes! They're gonna hand out tshirts and cup cakes at the next AGM

Is that a pi$$ take? I'll bet Singapore still provides salt and pepper!

...and more meal choices!!!

This is unsurprising. They've been rewarding mediocrity in management with large salaries for many years, so now they're just taking it one step further and rewarding poor management with huge pay rises (roughly 40% for some!)

The directors & upper level management don't really care, and why should they? Unlike the frontline staff (pilots & cabin crew), they don't stay around for long, have been able to save pots of money and can take their transferable "skills" elsewhere for similar remuneration.

The Swire princes come here from a car dealership, make their figures add up nicely and contribute to their bonuses by cutting costs and eking more productivity from their staff, then move on to a bottling plant in Beijing. The staff left behind are a bit more pissed off and the long term success and profitability is harmed for a short term gain, but these long term effects aren't seen until long after said manager/director has moved on. It's a bit like a game of hot potato but with jobs - the longer you hold onto it, the more likely you are to get burned.

What we're seeing with the pilots now is a result of many years of this practice. We're already pretty much the most productive pilots in the world. The 777 fleet pilots are continually constrained by legal flying limits and once the A350 is online, the Airbus pilots will be the same. It's simply not possible to achieve more productivity from this group of staff without changing the law. Those in charge today would be serving the company and the shareholders much better if they found a way to cool down this potato by meaningful engagement with the workforce instead of donning the asbestos gloves and batting it on.

Productivity is not working more hours. The pure definition of increasing productivity is to achieve more with the same input of labour. An example is to reduce sick levels by improving the roster...or removing split duties a with a 3 sector day and a night stop. Same working days but more hours and less fatigue.

"John Slosar denied the carrier had lost any of its premium appeal He went on to say that ten years ago Cathay was much less of a premium airline than it is today"

When you have to deny to the public that your company is losing its premium appeal you know there's something wrong. For me the premium appeal was lost with Cathay's new livery, it looks ****. CX is going the same way as HK as it gets eclipsed by China.

I now go out of my way to avoid flying CX for several reasons:

1) It's only a matter of time before one of your birds fall out of the sky due to poor maintenance, fatigued pilots, under-qualified pilots. I sure as hell don't want to be there when it happens

2) I don't find CX service any better than their less premium competitors. Hell I got better service on a WestJet flight than I did on CX

3) Your Asia Miles rewards those who pay the most for their tickets (First and Business) rather than the distance traveled

I'm sticking to the Middle Eastern airlines for their newer planes and superior service.

This lot couldn't manage their way out of a wet paper bag, makes me scared for the long-term viability of this airline.

The investors are voting with their feet, something that's not so easy for us.
If enough of them sell, it may finally be a wake-up call for the top brass to take a big broom through the 3rd floor and start fresh.

SELL SELL

Slightly off topic but it's funny you mentioned this.
My wife and I recently flew a return trip with Cathay from Melbourne to Paris, and we both noticed that there was no Salt or Pepper on any of the 4 flights!
Is this seriously intended as a cost cutting measure?!?

Bullwinkle , I hate to say it but yes it is part of the cost cutting .
It's death by a thousand cuts .They are simply ensuring that there is no salt to rub in the wounds . Thus they have our welfare at heart

So the board had to feel a bit uncomfortable for just a few hours with zero actual repercussions or responsibility taken before they could rush off the stage to get their snouts back in the trough. Anyone surprised? Anyone?

In Business Class you get salt and pepper only if you ask for it. It comes in plastic packets, just like in a railway caff. And our passengers have paid big bucks for those seats.

Surely nickel-and-diming to this level would indicate a slippery slope for this once world-beating airline.

They also removed the earplugs frim the business class amenties bag. Probably the only useful item in it!

Not true. Just flew J and got them (and used them)

No wifi.

That's the biggest worry, when every other carrier on the routes we fly has it and we don't.

End of story.

They have too many pax thus don't care about quality.

Give 'em crap they still come in their hordes.

'They have too many pax thus don't care about quality.

Give 'em crap they still come in their hordes.'


Spot on Suziewong.
They will keep cutting until the hordes stop coming.

Funny enough, this applies to passengers as well as pilots...

It's the Illy coffee damn it!!!!