Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Cathay Pacific Airways Announces First U.S. Cabin Crew

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060808/cgtu047.html
Press Release Source: Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways Announces First U.S. Cabin Crew
Tuesday August 8, 12:31 pm ET
Airline of the Year to Recruit San Francisco-Based Cabin Crew as it Celebrates 60th Anniversary


SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Cathay Pacific Airways, the Hong Kong luxury international airline, announced it will recruit its first ever United States-based cabin crew this summer. Based in San Francisco, North American headquarters for Cathay Pacific, the new cabin crew will support direct service between the city and Hong Kong.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060808/cgtu047.html
Press Release Source: Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways Announces First U.S. Cabin Crew
Tuesday August 8, 12:31 pm ET
Airline of the Year to Recruit San Francisco-Based Cabin Crew as it Celebrates 60th Anniversary


SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Cathay Pacific Airways, the Hong Kong luxury international airline, announced it will recruit its first ever United States-based cabin crew this summer. Based in San Francisco, North American headquarters for Cathay Pacific, the new cabin crew will support direct service between the city and Hong Kong.

For some reason this news does not excite me???? Will we see perky young girls or prison wardens from the former Alcatraz????

I'm with you on that. I hope I'm proven wrong, but American standard cabin crew is not what I fly CX for...

I too am surprised that CX would open a US crew base. How are they going to reconcile the HKG labor practices with US law? And why SFO? There is 1 flight while LAX has 3 flights. But that begs the questions of why CX US offices are in SFO to begin with. Were they not previously located in a LAX suburb?

The only glimmer of hope is the following quote:

Mowrer added that candidates will be screened for their ability to embrace Cathay Pacific's service ethic. The multiple award-winning airline is renowned for providing 'Service Straight from the Heart.'.

The only glimmer of hope is the following quote:

Mowrer added that candidates will be screened for their ability to embrace Cathay Pacific's service ethic. The multiple award-winning airline is renowned for providing 'Service Straight from the Heart.'.

That is reassuring. :)

So only young Chinese-Americans living in San Francisco need apply? ;)

Look for CX to be sued in California within the next few years over this ill-fated decision to hire USA flight crews.

So only young Chinese-Americans living in San Francisco need apply? ;) No no... I'm sure full-blooded Chinese can apply as well.Look for CX to be sued in California within the next few years over this ill-fated decision to hire USA flight crews.
By the crews for slavery, sweatshop-like conditions, or by the pax for downgraded/declining service?

...
By the crews for slavery, sweatshop-like conditions, or by the pax for downgraded/declining service?

Are we talking about UNITED AIRLINES here?

For CX to have a SFO cabin crew base is no different than from having a YVR or YYZ cabin crew base which they already have, and one in LHR too.

It just saves CX massively on costs that's all. It is actually cheaper for CX to hire them at overseas bases to be home-based than to place them in HKG. CX Cabin crew based in HKG are amongst the highest paid in the asia-pacific region.

Just about anyone can apply - but CX would of course prefer if one may speak at least an 'asian' language in addition to English. So if any FTers know of any caucasian , latino or african american friends who speak any asian languages to apply to CX, that would be great. YVR base has one caucasian FA who is fluent in Japanese (who's a Sr Purser now), and the LHR base has 2 English gents who are also fluent in Japanese, and 1 Italian woman who's fluent in Mandarin!

Quote as per news article above:
For the cabin crew positions, fluency in English as well as one Asian language, including Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Vietnamese or Tagalog, is one prerequisite.

Mind you, benefits on CX may not be as generous as those of US carriers though. But training will be on par to CX standards - ie the asian way! :D

We are not talking about United, really !

Hang on. Dont write off Americans as providing poor service, write off thier airlines for providing poor service. There is no reason why American's cannot provide the same level of service as Chinese flight attendants.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060808/cgtu047.html
Press Release Source: Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways Announces First U.S. Cabin Crew
Tuesday August 8, 12:31 pm ET
Airline of the Year to Recruit San Francisco-Based Cabin Crew as it Celebrates 60th Anniversary


SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Cathay Pacific Airways, the Hong Kong luxury international airline, announced it will recruit its first ever United States-based cabin crew this summer. Based in San Francisco, North American headquarters for Cathay Pacific, the new cabin crew will support direct service between the city and Hong Kong.

GROSS!
I fly an Asian carrier for a reason and that is lack of the usually poor service in domestic and international US carriers (very few exceptions). And I won't even mention the attitudes.
I see this as a BAD thing.

I hope not....I fly CX and SQ for the reason that they still believe beautiful girls should be on the plane...Will CX be able to hire beautiful young girls or will be be the old hags from the US based carriers that will sue because of the
no discrimination policy?

In many asain cultures, secretaries and other women are picked based on looks...cant do that in the US...

I have to say this news insitnctively evoked a "well there goes the neighbourhood" type response from me too. :o

But think of the knock-on benefits if they get it right and start influencing other carriers' attitudes!!! Just pray the service ethic influence doesn't flow in the other direction. :eek:

I have to say this news insitnctively evoked a "well there goes the neighbourhood" type response from me too. :o Me three. Oh dear. Oh no.

The best part of my great CX trip last month was the absence of American flight attendants and all that implies.

Presumably, though, if you didn't embark at SFO or LAX, you might avoid them.

Most people here seem to respect CX a lot as an airline, and to feel it offers very good service. CX's management must get some of the credit for this. They would, after all, be setting the quality and training standards and ensuring they are met.

Shouldn't we give that same management the benefit of the doubt over this decision? I doubt that this was a rash decision that was not thought through, and I can't believe that CX's managment did not consider the service implications when deliberating on this. My assumption is that they must have a good idea of how they are going to deal with maintaining service levels.

Instinctively, the decision made me feel uneasy too, but CX's management has shown that it knows how to run an airline successfully, and personally I shall give them the benefit of the doubt until they are shown to have messed up on this.

I agree, but that's not going to dispel the feeling of trepidation I get when I walk down the jetway and see a caucasian in cabin crew uniform at the end of it.

To be fair it's happened to me twice so far and everything was up to the usual Cathay standards. But it's going to take a few more good experiences (and no bad ones) before those feelings start to go away.

I'd certainly prefer to believe that the superb in-flight experience on CX with regards to cabin crew is due to the high standard of training and corporate culture and values, and not ethnicity as implied so strongly throughout this thread.

Personally I don't rate the flight crew on their looks, and I don't see why anyone should rate the cabin crew on theirs.

I agree, but that's not going to dispel the feeling of trepidation I get when I walk down the jetway and see a caucasian in cabin crew uniform at the end of it.

To be fair it's happened to me twice so far and everything was up to the usual Cathay standards. But it's going to take a few more good experiences (and no bad ones) before those feelings start to go away.

I know what you mean, but I have a feeling that CX will be able to finesse this with, for example, the language requirement. I think they've done a really good job with the YVR-based crews.

Personally I don't rate the flight crew on their looks, and I don't see why anyone should rate the cabin crew on theirs.For the same reason that I don't want Cathay's seat covers to be bright pink with vivid orange stripes. You could argue that they are just as effective at conveying me to the destination so it shouldn't matter. But I prefer seats that are pleasing on the eye as well as functionally effective. The same applies to the Cabin Crew.

In an era of policitcal correctness, not to mention anti-discrimination legislation, I find such openness refreshingly brave.

Surely you must mean caucasian girls, since we're talking about female flight attendants.Both - I don't have a problem with male cabin crew - some of the ones on CX are really quite cute ;)

Please.. refrain from using slang when referring to someone's race. It isn't very nice even if you yourself like to refer yourself as such.

And just get back on topic. Otherwise this thread will go the way of the do-do bird.

Thank you

Guy Betsy
Cathay Pacific Asiamiles forum moderator

For me what I expected from any cabin crew is politeness, service oriented in all aspects of the flight and most importantly pleasant attitude. :)

Personally I do not discriminate base on age ..looks..etc..But I would not hesitate to praise or criticize if the situation deemed necessary, no political correctness is going halt my opinion:)

Lucky me... my flight experience (past 3 years in Y class bout 200 flights) so far have been pleasant with CX n SQ only. Have not tried other airlines for the past 3 years:)

Cheers

BigSeat

What about the language requirement? CX crews are generally supposed to be near-fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English - just to start... That rules out a lot of people, no?

Yes. Read my post #8. As well as the original Yahoo! Link at Post #1.

Cathay Pacific will recruit for approximately 180 new positions, including a base manager, base office administration staff, and flight attendants. For the cabin crew positions, fluency in English as well as one Asian language, including Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Vietnamese or Tagalog, is one prerequisite.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

May have to switch over to SQ1/SQ2 for SFO flights. ;)

What about the language requirement? CX crews are generally supposed to be near-fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English - just to start... That rules out a lot of people, no?

Not in the Bay Area it doesn't. And thanks to Guy Betsy for putting the clamp on.

While some of you may assess your flight attendants on looks alone, I prefer that they be fully competent on the safety procedures in case the plane goes down. That is their primary purpose last time I checked.

While some of you may assess your flight attendants on looks alone, I prefer that they be fully competent on the safety procedures in case the plane goes down. That is their primary purpose last time I checked.

Fully competent on safety procedures to do what in case the plane goes down??? They can't fly the plane, they can't fix the plane, they not going to stand there and hand you the oxygen masks, the only thing they can do is to prepare the cabin for the crash. All safety procedures should be in the pamplet in your seat pocket. After crash landing they still going to need the exit door passengers to help open the doors and evacuate the passengers. So, really what can they do???? I trained US military pilots as part of my job and I can tell you that when the brown stuffs hit the fan most of them still need to pull out the emergency manual.

If the plane is going down I would rather see a pretty face on a nice body than someone else grandma. Nothing personal against any FA.

While some of you may assess your flight attendants on looks alone, I prefer that they be fully competent on the safety procedures in case the plane goes down. That is their primary purpose last time I checked.

Ye, me friend, have been drinking the wrong kind of koolaid. Looks, service ethic, and competence aren't mutually exclusive. Maybe the latter two are related, so I'll take my chances with CX.

Fully competent on safety procedures to do what in case the plane goes down??? They can't fly the plane, they can't fix the plane, they not going to stand there and hand you the oxygen masks, the only thing they can do is to prepare the cabin for the crash. All safety procedures should be in the pamplet in your seat pocket. After crash landing they still going to need the exit door passengers to help open the doors and evacuate the passengers. So, really what can they do???? ....The Air France crash at YYZ in August 2005 (went off the end of the runway into a ravine) was very illuminating as to exactly what FAs can do for safety -- very impressive result in that instance! A great counter-example to all of your points ... sorry to have reality contradict your suppositions, at least on some airlines. Several other crashes have also demonstrated that FA action is crucial and makes a big difference in the outcome -- and they really can do a lot, and there is proof that they actually do it, in some crash reports. Sorry for the diatribe, but I take airline safety seriously, and actually choose which airlines I fly based on safety as a major criterion (and not just which champagne is served, or how short the skirts are).

As for the original thread reaction -- that opening an SFO base will degrade the service -- that is an unlikely outcome. It hasn't been true out of YVR. YYZ is a bit less clear (seems worse than the YVR base, but I haven't flown in/out of YYZ since F was dropped, so my experience is too old to be useful). If anything the westbound service will be better (and in any case eastbound benefits from home base sourcing). It seems like a good move to me.

I second number_6's comments. I recall the SQ incident in Taipei where the 747 captain tried to takeoff on a closed runway. There were allegations that the 'pretty' FA's did not perform their safety duties as required leading to more injuries than necessary. Given the published requirements for the FA jobs and CX's standards, I am not worried.

My chances of being involved in a survivable incident on a carrier meeting the highest international safety regulations are so small as to be (in my opinion) negligible. And the chances of the FA being able to make a difference are a fraction of that. So a fraction of a negligible number is for all practical purposes zero. The only safety criterion I use is the number of planes that fall out of the sky. This disqualifies China Airlines and a couple of others. Beyond that saftey isn't a factor, and all other aspects of the service being equal, I'll go for the airline with the most attractive FAs (and I'm referring to attitude as much as to looks).

The Air France crash at YYZ in August 2005 (went off the end of the runway into a ravine) was very illuminating as to exactly what FAs can do for safety -- very impressive result in that instance! A great counter-example to all of your points ... sorry to have reality contradict your suppositions, at least on some airlines. Several other crashes have also demonstrated that FA action is crucial and makes a big difference in the outcome -- and they really can do a lot, and there is proof that they actually do it, in some crash reports. Sorry for the diatribe, but I take airline safety seriously, and actually choose which airlines I fly based on safety as a major criterion (and not just which champagne is served, or how short the skirts are).


Of course you should take airline safety seriously, I do the same and in more way than you can imagine since I am in the business of aircraft safety. The Air France crash(??) is non-typical and it was still in one piece when it skidded off the run way (not crashed onto the ground). The only thing to do there is to open the doors (passengers assisted) and haul a$$ out of there. Really, what did the FA do???? What other crashes do you think the FA action was crucial, please be specific???

You also should choose which airlines to fly base on safety as a major criterion, but how is the FA going to be the deciding factor, please be specific? Pilot training and experiences, equipments, airports, and maintenance are all good deciding factors. FA should not be a safety factor because if they are disabled then what?? You can still perform all the safety procedures in the pamplet in your seat pocket, that's what. FA should only realistically be considered as a comfort factor and this is why this is related to the original topic. I would still prefer a nice looking FA with a charming personality than some one that only knows how to open the emergency exit door.

I second number_6's comments. I recall the SQ incident in Taipei where the 747 captain tried to takeoff on a closed runway. There were allegations that the 'pretty' FA's did not perform their safety duties as required leading to more injuries than necessary. Given the published requirements for the FA jobs and CX's standards, I am not worried.

Again, lets look at the fact. The pilot ran the aircraft into construction equipment causing it to break into pieces. What exactly did you think the FA might have done differently to prevent this (allegrations or not)??? Please be specific. US military air transport has the lowest accident rate of any airlines in the world. Guess what? There is no FA in the US Air Transport Command.

Based upon your comments, FA's are not required to be on airline flights as they have no effect on safety. I disagree. In a crash situation there will be chaos and the FA's duties are to assist passengers in the evacuation. Someone has to do this. Do you want to depend upon a passenger steping up to the challenge or is it everyone on their own?

I didn't bring up the slang to begin with on this thread, but this is a non-issue. The use of the slang xxx is so pervasive in Hong Kong that it has long ago lost any of its original derogatory meaning. Even all the xxxxs in HK call themselves xxxxs, and local Western publications use the term in print regularly. .... To make it into an issue is one big YAWN.

Back to the topic, race and gender are not big factors for me in my comfort and well-being on a flight. Service quality is. Japan Airlines internationalized their cabin crew years ago. I wonder what flyertalkers on that board have to say about this topic?

I didn't bring up the slang to begin with on this thread, but this is a non-issue. The use of the slang xxx is so pervasive in Hong Kong that it has long ago lost any of its original derogatory meaning. Even all the xxxxs in HK call themselves xxxxs, and local Western publications use the term in print regularly. .... To make it into an issue is one big YAWN.

Back to the topic, race and gender are not big factors for me in my comfort and well-being on a flight. Service quality is. Japan Airlines internationalized their cabin crew years ago. I wonder what flyertalkers on that board have to say about this topic?

Yes you are right. People call themselves whatever they like, however we shall not accentuate the facts here especially since many are not from HK and thus we don't really want them to learn a new word before fully understanding what it means.

If you want to, by all means open up a new thread over at OMNI and discuss who should be called what. However such discussions should not take place here at the ASIAMILES forum.

Thank you... keep talking!

Guy Betsy
Cathay Pacific Asiamiles forum moderator

I think enough has been discussed about this particular crew base. If only the YVR , YYZ and LHR crew bases offered similar discussions.

But they have not, why? Because it basically is a non-issue. CX will hire the best personnel they think best to serve on their fleet. One thing for sure is that you will never be able to distinguish who is SFO based and who isn't. CX tend to mix HKG based crew with their foreign based crew at times! Well, unless one person whom you might think stands out....

We discussed this well, and as all things good must come to an end, so does this thread.

Thank you for all your comments and posts.

Guy Betsy
Cathay Pacific Asiamiles forum moderator