Hong Kong national flag carrier Cathay Pacific is pondering the closure of its London pilots base, putting as many as 100 jobs at risk. Following one of the worst years the aviation industry has ever seen, the Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)-based airline is looking to save costs wherever it can.
Having cut back on the number of flights it operated due to COVID-19 and the restrictions imposed on international travel, Cathay Pacific is now considering hiring a United Kingdom-based cockpit crew. The move to shut down Cathay’s London pilots base follows a similar action the airline made in the spring when it decided to close down its pilot bases in Toronto and Vancouver. Other pilot base closures followed in Australia, New Zealand, and Germany. No decision has yet been made on what Cathay Pacific will do with its pilot bases in the United States.
Cathay Pacific connects Hong Kong
With no domestic market to rely on, Cathay Pacific has always been focused on connecting Hong Kong to the rest of the world. Because of this global network, Cathay Pacific was unique in its number of overseas foreign crew bases. According to the aviation website AEROTIME HUB, Cathay Pacific has been in touch with its London-based crews and their union representatives about the possible closure.
When speaking with AeroTime News on July 21, 2021, about the possibility of the London-base closing, a Cathay Pacific spokesperson said:
“This is simply a proposal at this stage, and no decisions have been made. We will consult with our employees and their representatives in good faith and give careful consideration to all views provided before making a final decision.”
If history is anything to go by, Cathay Pacific basically said the same thing in April shortly before closing its pilots base in Australia.
HKG to LHR was a lucrative route
Before the pandemic turned the world on its head, Cathay Pacific’s Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to London Heathrow (LHR) was one of the Asian carrier’s most lucrative routes. Before COVID-19, Cathay Pacific operated five flights a day from the former British Colony to London. Now, however, due in part to Hong Kong’s stringent COVID-19 requirements, the airline has been hard-pressed to operate one flight per day.
In May 2020, all Cathay Pacific’s overseas-based pilots were placed on standby, while those furloughed in Europe and the USA were placed on half-pay. In a move designed to help survive the crisis, Cathay Pacific decided to shut down its regionally subsidiary Cathay Dragon and undergo a restructuring which saw the loss of around 5,900 mainly Hong Kong jobs.
Cathay Pacific $5 billion bailout
Fearing that Hong Kong could lose its status as a major international aviation hub if Cathay Pacific went under, the government stepped in with a massive HK$39 billion ($5 billion) bailout.
When speaking with the South China Morning Post newspaper about the bailout last summer, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-Po said:
“It’s not a random person or a random company,” Chan said. “We have to safeguard [the city’s] aviation rights; otherwise, this will cause systematic risk.”
Had Cathay Pacific been allowed to fail, Hong Kong faced the possibility of surrendering air traffic rights to Mainland Chinese carriers.
Given the current conditions and COVID-19 restrictions still in place in Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific is still in a money-saving mode as it looks to emerge from the crisis as a profitable airline once more.
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