Cathay Pilots Union Seeks Legal Advice On Contracts

Cathay Pacific's pilots union said on Wednesday that it was seeking legal advice on new lower-paid contracts being offered to its members, and accused the airline of not giving staff enough time to consider their options amid mass layoffs.

Almost 6,000 jobs were slashed on Wednesday as part of a sweeping restructuring to help the company survive the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association's general secretary, Chris Beebe, told RTHK: "We continue to do a legal review as to both the intent and manner in which the company is doing this."

Beebe added that the time given to pilots to consider the new contracts is "extremely short", with one deadline coming next Wednesday and another a week after that.

"The benefits that will accrue to the pilots signing will depend on when they sign," he said.

"This is clearly a way of forcing or intimidating the pilots into making a serious decision on their lives and careers in a very short amount of time. We feel that this is fundamentally unfair."

Pilots who do not sign the new contract will be terminated with three months' pay, while those who are being made redundant are leaving with six months' pay, he added.

The new contracts, similar to those for new hires since 2018, also offer pay which is based more on flying hours than previously, leading to far lower salaries in periods where the airline is largely idle.

The degree of pay cut depends on which older contract the pilot was on, with one Cathay pilot saying he expected a reduction of about 40 percent.

"The company has the ability to set what the threshold will be to receive full remuneration. It’s arbitrary, it’s completely up to the company and does not leave the pilots much of an opportunity to have any control over his income," Beebe said.

Meanwhile Cathay's Flight Attendants Union held a five-hour meeting with airline representatives on Friday to discuss the new contracts. Its chairwoman, Zuki Wong, said they'd asked for more time to consider the contract changes.

The union said it was consulting lawyers and the Labour Department for advice.

Cathay has said the new contracts being offered to pilots and cabin crew are "highly competitive" by industry standards. (Additional reporting by Reuters)

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