Cathay ups pilot perks as it battles chronic aircrew shortage

Cathay Pacific has raised the allowance it gives to pilots to cover their children's school fees by 50 percent and locked in pay benchmarks for two years as it tackles a chronic shortage of aircrew that has led to mass flight cancellations.

Hong Kong's biggest airline will increase its school fee cap by 50 percent to HK$150,000 for each eligible child between 11 and 18 years old, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News.

Other incentives include a pledge to keep a metric of hours flown, that's tied to take-home pay, the same through the end of 2025, essentially averting pay cuts.

Cathay has been scrambling to hire more pilots after Covid-related job losses gutted its ranks. Pay cuts for those that remained - more than 45 percent for some crew - sparked an exodus.

The shortage of captains and first officers along with a sudden uptick in seasonal illnesses, culminated in mass flight cancellations through to the end of February that has prompted the pilots' union to call for a government inquiry into the carrier's handling of the issue.

Cathay yesterday did not confirm the allowance increase.

"We will continue to listen to and communicate with our pilot community to make the enhancements where appropriate," they said.

The flagship carrier earlier announced the cancellation of an average of 12 flights daily until the end of next month to ensure smooth operations during the Lunar New Year.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said earlier this month that he's very concerned by the cancellations, as flight capacity is important to the city's role as a transportation hub.

Cathay has been asked by the government to submit a report by the end of January explaining the cause of the incident and its approach to handling flight arrangements in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.

Still, it's unlikely the latest round of enticements will be enough to solve Cathay's long-term image problem and pilot shortage, according to a Cathay pilot union.

"This is an admission by Cathay management that pilot pay remains uncompetitive. But it's a piecemeal approach - what is required is a comprehensive and mutually enforceable contract," said Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association Chairman Paul Weatherilt.

"Management's ability to change pilot pay at will is a major concern. Pilots would like to see the same stability that management enjoys since they restored their pre-pandemic pay over a year ago," he said.