Cathay Pacific Airways has restored about half the services it suspended in early July despite there being no resolution in sight to the pay and rostering dispute between the airline and pilots belonging to the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association (HKAOA).
The airline's relations with HKAOA pilots worsened in early July when Cathay sacked 52 pilots and unilaterally imposed a new contract, which it claims includes a pay rise worth 9%.
By 13 July, Cathay was able to operate about 129 flights out of its normal 144 daily services, up from around 110 operated when the work-to-rule action began to bite around 5 July, causing major flight delays.
Last week Cathay reinstated a number of suspended destinations, including Hanoi, Seoul, Taipei, Nagoya and Tokyo. Abatement of a typhoon which had been adding to flight disruption has also eased the airline's situation.
Cathay has returned three of the 17 aircraft it was chartering from Chinese airlines and hopes to return more this week. Chartered aircraft had been operating around a quarter of Cathay's daily services.
Despite this, a quarter of flights have been typically delayed for more than 15min every day. Cathay also accuses the pilots of causing some flights to be cancelled, a charge strenuously denied by the HKAOA, which represents around 1,200 of Cathay's 1,400 pilots.
Source: Flight International
