Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific to offer new incentives to pilots for Lunar New Year work

Pilots operating services of five hours or less, for example, will get 30 per cent of their hourly flying rate, while those on flights of up to 8½ hours will receive 25 per cent. Flights above 8½ hours will drop to 15 per cent.

A Cathay pilot’s pay comprises basic salary, allowances and productivity pay.

The Post has reached out to Cathay for comment.

Cathay has cancelled hundreds of flights from December to the end of February.

On January 7, the airline said it would axe a dozen flights a day on average until the end of February to avoid disruptions during the busy Lunar New Year holiday.

The move was on the heels of about 70 cancellations during the Christmas and New Year holidays, which Cathay attributed to “higher-than-expected pilot absences caused by seasonal illness”.

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But in a memo dated December 30 and seen by the Post, the carrier also acknowledged that many pilots had reached or were close to hitting their limit of 900 flying hours during a rolling 12-month period.

The company is suffering from a shortage of experienced pilots following pandemic-related lay-offs and pay cuts to remaining crew, which resulted in hundreds resigning.

A Cathay Pacific’s pilot pay comprises basic salary, allowances and productivity pay.

The Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, which represents Cathay pilots, said the number of captains and first officers for passenger flights stood at just 52 per cent of the 2019 levels.

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Last week, the company announced measures to boost pilot morale, including increasing a cap on school allowances for eligible children aged 11 to 18 from the current HK$100,000 (US$12,800) per annum to HK$150,000.

The airline also committed to not increasing the mechanism for the annual target of flying hours – used to fix hourly rates of pay – this year or in 2025.

One pilot told the Post the latest move was because the airline was still worried about disruptions over Lunar New Year.

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But he said the incentives did not go far enough, saying other organisations offered double hourly rates during such periods.

Association chairman Paul Weatherilt called it “a Band-Aid measure, not a solution.”

“It’s an acknowledgement that even with a reduced Lunar New Year schedule they are still short of pilots,” he said.

Cathay CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por said earlier this month the number of flights had reached 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Cathay Pacific and HK Express have set a target of a return to full passenger flight capacity this year.