Letters | Cathay Pacific’s pandemic restructuring was misjudged

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I refer to the article, “Are Hong Kong’s aviation hub ambitions hampered by Cathay’s pilot shortage, capacity issues?” (August 9), in which I was quoted on the airline’s manpower shortage. I would like to add that nothing significant happens at Cathay Pacific without approval from London. Through its subsidiary Swire Pacific, John Swire & Sons Limited has had an outsize influence on Hong Kong aviation for decades. Cathay Pacific’s 2020 restructuring severely impacted Hong Kong.

Using the pandemic as an opportunity to cut key staff is yet another of Cathay’s significant misjudgments, along with fuel hedging and cargo price fixing. It is time to scrutinise how Swire Pacific exercises control over Hong Kong aviation, particularly how public funds were used in 2020 to maintain Cathay’s dominance. A government inquiry is long overdue.

Cathay continues to mislead Hong Kong about its recovery. Despite company claims, the recovery has stalled since the Christmas flight cancellations. While reactivating the remaining pilots has been relatively quick, training the required pilots and instructor pilots will take years. The only immediate solution lies in retaining pilots and attracting back the many Hong Kong pilots who have left.

However, admitting this would mean acknowledging that the 2020 restructuring has failed and is restricting the potential of Hong Kong’s aviation sector.