Pilots with Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific plan to suspend their long-running industrial action campaign from Sunday in a bid to settle a dispute over pay and conditions.
More disruption could lie ahead for CX after its pilots union decided to resume industrial action in January.
Earlier this year the pilots imposed a work to rule in a long-running dispute over pay and hours. Now the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association say Cathay's 1,500 pilots have voted to re-instate their action by operating strictly to the terms of their original contracts from January 2, 2002.
The latest move is in compliance with the pilots' safety guidelines which are designed to combat fatigue resulting from rostering practices currently operated by the airline, a union statement said.
Guess these idiots doesn't think they have already caused enough troubles.
Well but this means more tier bonuses for the elite members....
Commuter
Dec 20, 01, 9:56 pm
Well, my 2 cents. I recently spoke with a friend who has a friend who's a CX 747-400 Captain. They met on a vacation island in the South Pacific (if this is any hint). If I get the story right, the guy flies two long haul trips per month, leaving him, it would appear, something around 26 days for whatever. I'm terrified to even attempt to work out the daily wage for this kind of work (+ all the expat housing allowances, etc..). This guy evidently backed out of the union last year, feeling that the demands were getting kind of crazy (and obviously able to keep some perspective-- this is a very privelged life).
I don't doubt that the pilots have a lot of responsibility, but I also know that they do very well financially, and may not realize how much harder most people have to work for the same (or much less) money.
I also don't know how much CX execs are pulling down, and pilots may be comparing their pay to others within the company. In any case, I'd like to have more information to put this all in perspective.
Nonetheless, it would be nice if ONCE the pilot's union would mention that pilots are well-paid, and in general have good working conditions (compared to most people in the world). It might actually generate more sympathy for their cause.....
tedhl
Dec 20, 01, 11:36 pm
i too don't find the pilots' argument convincing at all...
i have one more example...a second officer with CX recently completed a 4-year FULL-TIME law degree program...i know that this pilot must be smart...but, at least his supposedly full-time job gave him enough spare time and flexibility to support his 4 years of law school, which all other students are doing full-time...maybe when they said they don't have enough rest in order to fly safely, that's because many of them are doing so much in the supposedly rest time...
please stop using safety or whatever as the excuse...the "maximum safety strategy" is just a joke...come on, work 2 long-haul trips a month and rest for 26 days, and still said the airline is risking the passengers' lives by making them work too hard or giving them too much stress...
and, the HKAOA always shows statistics saying that their pilots are not highly paid compared to other airlines around the world...but, frankly, theirs are the only numbers i saw that gave this conclusion...all other reports or numbers i read all show that CX's pilots are among the best paid, if not the best paid, in the world...CX's pilots were saying something like they are paid like only half of what AA's pilots are being paid...maybe that's true, and that's why the american carriers are all going bankrupt... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif
Commuter
Dec 21, 01, 12:07 am
Yes, just to finish the tale. I was told that "many" CX pilots work second jobs, since they don't know what to do with their spare time. Another common activity seems to be taking off for weekend jaunts (remember, they pay 1% of published fare, I think) to wherever.
So, I'll get back to planning my next business trip on CX, for which, if I remember correctly, I'll be paying around 100% of published fare......
tedhl
Dec 21, 01, 12:14 am
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Commuter:
Yes, just to finish the tale. I was told that "many" CX pilots work second jobs, since they don't know what to do with their spare time. Another common activity seems to be taking off for weekend jaunts (remember, they pay 1% of published fare, I think) to wherever.</font>
i have absolutely no problem of them paying like 5-10% of published fares and always get to fly F...afterall, it's a benefit of their job...
but, if "many" of them are working a second job in their spare time, and at the same time complaining that the company gives them too much stress, too little time to rest, etc...then it's really ridiculous...maybe when they said the airline doesn't give them enough advance notice for a certain flight, they were actually thinking about then they don't have enough time to make arrangement for their other jobs ?
in fact, is there any laws/rules in place that regulate what the pilots can/cannot do in their "spare time" ? i think there's some legal restrictions on the number of rest hours for pilots before a flight...but what constitutes "rest" ? anything besides flying ? even if they work a whole day on a second job before flying an overnight flight ?
fakecd
Dec 21, 01, 12:21 am
On the different note, didn't Cathay increase their employee's wages? Or was that only for the ground staffs, not the pilots?
If my memory is correct, it was announced they got a wage increase of approximately 2.4-2.6%...
tedhl
Dec 21, 01, 12:57 am
i think that pay raises are offered to some 6000 or so more junior ground staff and flight attendants...pilots are probably not included, nor are all the assistant manager level or up ground staff...
doc
Jan 3, 02, 7:49 am
Cathay Pacific pilots have carried out their threat to resume industrial action over pay and rostering issues, but the airline says that its daily operations have not yet been affected.
The pilots, members of the Hong Kong Aicrew Officers Association, are working strictly to contract again after failing to re-kindle talks with management. They claim that their action is designed to combat pilot fatigue which results from Cathay's present rostering practices.
Their original work-to-rule was suspended last November in the hope of fresh negotiations.
In practice, pilots will not be available for duty on days specifically allowed for recovery from fatigue and jet lag.
When they first imposed their restrictions, in July last year, it led to flight cancellations as aircrew called in sick. In a survey carried out by the union nearly two-thirds of Cathay pilots claimed they were more fatigued than they were a year ago and very worried about safety.