Fix this as quickly as possible: John Lee’s message to Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific amid 3 days of extensive flight cancellations

Lee acknowledged that the pandemic had heavily affected flight capacity, and efforts had been made to address the issue, but urged the airline to overcome its challenges “very quickly and very effectively”.

“I understand this capacity constraint exists in many cities similar to Hong Kong,” he said. “But in this competitive world, I want our aviation industry to rebuild its capacity fast and completely so that we will be competitive as a whole.

“Also, I think it is the basic service requirement for airlines to provide satisfactory service to passengers,” he said, calling for both short- and long-term solutions.

The chief executive added that the Transport and Logistics Bureau would contact Cathay’s management to relay the government’s goals and see how they could work together to ensure passengers are offered the best services.

On Sunday, Cathay said it planned to cut an average of 12 flights a day until the end of February to ensure it had sufficient staffing for the coming Lunar New Year holiday, following a wave of cancellations over the Christmas and New Year break because of a shortage of experienced pilots for passenger flights.

Monday’s 21 cancelled flights covered routes to Singapore, Dubai, Beijing, Seoul, Bangkok and Vancouver. Some passengers complained that they were only informed of cancellations hours before their flights and were put on other services without being consulted.

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Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung earlier expressed his “grave concerns” over the plan and urged the airline to “carefully review flight allocation and manpower arrangements, maintain good communication with employees, and ensure that it provides stable and reliable services to passengers”.

According to the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, which represents Cathay pilots, the carrier had 2,532 pilots as of last month, a decrease of nearly 35 per cent compared with the 3,885 in the fourth quarter of 2019.

A Cathay spokesman said previously that the company planned to hire about 5,000 people this year.

Additional reporting by Harvey Kong