“The incident gives rise to concern about the capacity resumption of [Cathay] and, further to that, the recovery of Hong Kong International Airport,” the department said, highlighting the airline’s status as the city’s flag carrier.

Cathay CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por said last week that it had pushed back by three months its timeline for restoring passenger flight capacity to pre-pandemic levels from the end of 2024 to the first quarter of next year.

The airline’s cancellation saga during the peak travel period covering Christmas and Lunar New Year drew the ire of travellers who faced difficulties with rebooking flights, while pilots lamented messy roster arrangements.

In the report to the department, Cathay said the pilot roster planning was the “root cause” of the cancellations.

According to the airline, the cancellations were caused by several factors, including internal planning issues and underestimation of pilot reserve levels.

Hong Kong’s Cathay ‘learns lesson’, pushes back capacity target by 3 months

Cathay blamed the disruptions on an “unanticipated and sustained increase” in pilot absences due to seasonal illness and the high number of flights over the 2023 holiday season, adding the shortfall spilled over into the new year and caused a second round of cancellations.

Many pilots had also been about to exceed the maximum 900 flying hours over the previous 12 months and could not cover for their absent colleagues, the airline said.

While it was “fully aware” of the 900-hour legal duty protecting against fatigue, Cathay said the limit had not been a “significant impediment to the operation” and thus, “was not tracked to the level of detail that has now become necessary”.

The Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association earlier attributed the problem to a management decision to cut jobs globally amid the pandemic. Offering cost-cutting contracts that slashed pilot pay by about 40 per cent to remaining employees also prompted more to resign.

Cathay Pacific says the flight cancellations were caused by underestimation of pilot reserve levels, among other factors. Photo: Dickson Lee

Cathay said in the report that it suspended training to free up cockpit crew and ensured that the level of reserve pilots for the Lunar New Year period exceeded the normal by a large margin.

The airline also mapped the 900-hour limit into crew planning processes and added buffers to the rostering system to reduce the number of pilots hitting the maximum flying hours.

The department noted that the airline did not cancel any flights during the Lunar New Year peak travel period.

“[Cathay] has assured that there will be no similar flight cancellations during the coming Easter travel peak,” the department said.

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“In fact, [Cathay] has further reassured the government and the public that it will make its best endeavours to ensure there will be no similar flight cancellation in the future.”

At the peak of the flight disruptions in January, Cathay said it would cut an average of 12 flights a day until the end of February in a bid to avoid cancellations during the Lunar New Year holiday – one of the busiest travel periods in China.

Cathay chief operations and service delivery officer Alex McGowan apologised to customers, while city leader John Lee Ka-chiu called on the airline to set up a task force to investigate the matter.

Affected routes included Singapore, Dubai, Beijing, Seoul, Bangkok and Vancouver.

Legco’s panel on economic development is expected to further discuss the matter on Friday.

Темы и теги

Гонконг Путешествия и География

Cathay Pacific гонконгский компания Катай отмена рейс обещание выходной месяц беспокойство