Cathay To Make Covid Vaccination A Job Prerequisite

Cathay Pacific says it may soon become a prerequisite for its pilots and cabin crews to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order for them to be rostered on flights.

In an internal memo to staff on Thursday, the airline said it won’t be long before it will be difficult to “sustainably roster unvaccinated crew”.

The company said around 80 percent of its pilots have so far opted to receive a vaccine, but less than half of its cabin crew staff have done so.

In response to a media enquiry, Cathay Pacific said it expects governments to introduce more stringent requirements for crew members who are not inoculated, and it will become more difficult to separate staff who are fully protected against Covid and those who are not.

The airline did not say when the requirement will become effective, but said it may be "rapidly approaching this decision point".

Achim Czerny, an associate professor at Polytechnic University's department of logistics, says it's a global trend for flight crews to get Covid jabs.

"Of course, all the airlines want their crews to be vaccinated, because the pandemic affects the aviation industry very strongly. There are all these travel restrictions, quarantine requirements, which make the airline operation very difficult," he said.

"Getting the crews vaccinated is of course a step that helps getting over all these restrictions, and is important for the airline industry to recover."

He added that vaccinations should still be voluntary, although crew members will be under pressure to get jabs in order to keep their jobs.