Cathay task force probes cancellations

Cathay Pacific said the flight cancellation that started last month is far below its standard, while the budget airline of the group, HK Express, has been ranked third globally and first in Asia for on-time performance.

It comes as 14 more Cathay flights - six departing from Hong Kong and eight landing in the SAR - were canceled yesterday, including flights to or from Kaohsiung, Bangkok and Beijing, after the airline announced to cancel an average of 12 flights daily until the end of next month to ensure a smooth operation during the Lunar New Year.

In a statement yesterday, Cathay said all planned cancellations have been made and that it has contacted all affected customers.

"We have worked hard to minimize the impact. Over 96 percent of customers affected between January 1 and February 29 have been given alternate flight options within 24 hours of their original departure time, while 93 percent have been protected onto other Cathay Pacific services, with the remaining protected onto our airline partners," said the airline's chief operations and service delivery officer Alex McGowan.

"The disruption of this scale is far below the standard our customers have a right to expect, and far below the standard to which we hold ourselves. I am leading a task force to ensure we identify and resolve the underlying issues. We will ensure that we improve as a result and can deliver the high-quality services and reliability Hong Kong deserves," he added.

McGowan also apologized to customers affected by the recent travel disruptions.

"Over the Christmas and New Year period, we underestimated the number of reserve pilots we would need. Our people worked round the clock to minimize the impact and in particular, I would like to thank our crew operations team, airport team, and pilots for their enormous efforts during this period," McGowan said.

"Given our January pilot rosters were already set in mid-December, the lack of adequate reserve levels persisted into January. In order to stabilize the current operation, we needed to cancel further flights across the first two weeks of January."

McGowan said the flight cancellations peaked at 27 flights last Sunday and will be fewer in the coming weeks.

Lawmaker Ben Chan Han-pan, also the chairman of the Legislative Council's Panel on Transport, said the administration could coordinate with other airlines to support Cathay.

Apart from investigating the recent flight disruption, Cathay should also consider anti-disruption measures in the long term, he said.

Meanwhile, HK Express, has been ranked third globally and first in Asia for on-time performance among low-cost carriers by aviation data analytics firm Cirium.

"This affirms the relentless efforts of our staff in ensuring flight safety and punctuality. Looking forward, we will continue to provide efficient services, ensuring that our customers enjoy flight services at reasonable prices and arrive at their destination on time to travel at their own terms," said the airline's CEO Jeanette Mao Jie-qiong.

The budget airline yesterday distributed 19,000 free flight tickets on a first-come, first-served basis, but many people complained they had to wait for hours to log in to the airline's website.