Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - More Cathay Cost Cutting on the Way!

Wonder what they'll cut this time?

Cathay Pacific chief hints at more cost-cutting, citing fuel prices
Simon Parry
Updated on Sep 10, 2008
The chief executive of Cathay Pacific has hinted at deeper cost-cutting, saying high fuel prices and a global recession threatened to have a severe impact on Hong Kong's flagship airline.
Tony Tyler said in a newsletter to staff that further cost-cutting measures may be necessary, particularly as the US and UK may be "heading towards recession".

"These are extremely difficult times for the aviation industry and I'm sorry to say there doesn't appear to be any light at the end of the tunnel just yet," Mr Tyler wrote in CX World, an internal newsletter circulated among staff yesterday. "The industry is now in the middle of a major crisis and it's unlikely that we are going to emerge unscathed."

He said the recent fall in oil prices had not eased the pressure on Cathay Pacific, which earlier this summer announced its first losses since 2003.

Added to this, Mr Tyler said, there had been a softening in the Hong Kong corporate market, Cathay Pacific's biggest source of revenue. He described the trend as "worrying".

The situation could be worsened still by recession in the United States and United Kingdom which would "hit us hard", Mr Tyler said, as both markets generate a big percentage of the airline's revenue.

Cathay has already reduced flights on less popular routes and increased fares and surcharges.

But Mr Tyler warned further measures could be needed: "If the situation changes for the worse, we may have to change our strategy."

He went on: "If revenue drops - and some believe we are about to enter phase two of the crisis when demand will start to collapse - then we'll have to think again."

Mr Tyler also criticised recent court cases brought against Cathay Pacific by staff unions. "It's been a jarring note to see the airline involved in a couple of high-profile court cases recently involving different staff groups," he said. "Of course staff have a right to air their grievances ... but right now the focus for all of us needs to be on working together to get through what looks set to be a very difficult time."

John Findlay, general secretary of the Aircrew Officers' Association, said Mr Tyler was being prudent, but said: "Cathay's record of recovering from such crises ... is there for all to see. I'm very confident that this will happen again."

Some suggestions for Mr.Tyler

- Cathay metal including First on the Hongkong - Moscow route

- Cathay Hongkong - Teheran as soon as allowed by the US authorities

- Dragonair/Cathay to open destinations in Central Asia and Russian Siberia

- Dragonair Hongkong - Wuxi to serve the industry in the Yangze Delta

Interesting to see this, as it was only a few months ago, that Tyler himself that that there is no worries for demand (As witnessed by high load factors and revenue), but the problem is with fuel.

And three months later, fuel dropped a little, but now there is softening demand for cooperates.

What I don't understand is that on one hand, he said that UK may be headed for recession, yet CX upgraded one of the LHR fights to B747, while BA reduced flights.

Also, I am dying to read CX World. So is there anyone kind enough to upload a copy or just PM me? Thanks

Some suggestions for Mr.Tyler

- Cathay metal including First on the Hongkong - Moscow route

- Cathay Hongkong - Teheran as soon as allowed by the US authorities

- Dragonair/Cathay to open destinations in Central Asia and Russian Siberia

- Dragonair Hongkong - Wuxi to serve the industry in the Yangze Delta

Huh? CX is wanting to reduce unprofitable flights, not increase them.

Huh? CX is wanting to reduce unprofitable flights, not increase them.

IMHO these are the destinations with most potential growth until the US has time to recover. Premium travel is growing mostly in Russia, energy rich countries such as Iran and Central Asian nations and India.

So far reductions have taken place for YVR, YYZ, LAX while capacities have increased for AMS, LHR, and a couple of Aussie destinations.

If things don't improve my speculation is that CX888/889 in the near future could probably go only as far as YVR and may not continue to JFK. A cabin crew who is a close friend of my GF told me YVR-JFK-YVR is seldom full and loads are virtually light most of the time. And things are even worse these days now that JFK has two nonstops.

Added to this, Mr Tyler said, there had been a softening in the Hong Kong corporate market, Cathay Pacific's biggest source of revenue. He described the trend as "worrying".

Dear Tony Tyler: Recently I purchased

1.) A round-trip SQ F ticket SFO-HKG on SQ1 (was hoping for A380, but oh well). Previously this was guaranteed CX revenue for you.
2.) Two weeks ago I flew round-trip HKG-SIN on SQ in Y.
3.) EK to Dubai in November
4.) LH to Zurich (instead of having meetings in London first for meetings and using CX).
5.) SIN-EWR - making meetings in SIN first, which isn't very hard for us corporates whose business you're concerned about losing - instead of going straight HKG-JFK.

It's not the cost cutting that I care about per se, as it has to happen. That I understand. Charge me more if you need to in F or J. But stop the ridiculous bleeding that is inconsistent (and oftentimes horrible) service - especially for GOs and DMs, bad food, and a lousy and ill-conceived product roll-out.

It's not the cost cutting that I care about per se, as it has to happen. That I understand. Charge me more if you need to in F or J. But stop the ridiculous bleeding that is inconsistent (and oftentimes horrible) service - especially for GOs and DMs, bad food, and a lousy and ill-conceived product roll-out.

I've been so dissappointed with CX over the past 18 months I even personally wrote to Mr Tyler after a particularly (but all too common) bad flight. I mentioned that I now took flights to SYD using QF, LHR using BA, SIN using SQ and only using CX where necessary such as on intra asia routes. Got the usual reply about thanking for all the support over the years, but nothing to address the issues I wrote in about. I think the cost cutting will continue.

- Cathay metal including First on the Hongkong - Moscow route


If my recent flights on the two carriers are anything to go by, I can't see why anyone would choose to fly CX over SU in J, though I imagine there may be enough F demand to make the route profitable for Cathay.

But stop the ridiculous bleeding that is inconsistent (and oftentimes horrible) service - especially for GOs and DMs, bad food, and a lousy and ill-conceived product roll-out.

This is so true and I'm glad you vote with your feet^. SQ may not be panacea, but at least I'm well-fed inflight. And SQ/QF/BA FA's are much better in handling irregularities - from water spill to emergency landing!

I personally have also moved at least one long-haul J/F trip every month from CX to non-CX for at least the past 3-4 months...I think they need to understand the "softening HK corporate demand" doesn't necessarily come from the economic situation, but their own service level !! they really have shown way more than enough that they don't care about my business, and so I just act accordingly - they don't care anyway and so they should be happy.

interestingly, in the CPLP response to me (about the sudden, huge, and secret fee increases), they were exactly quoting Mr Tyler's words about the challenging airline industry - basically it's like, because the airline industry is very challenging now, so we have to screw you and increase all these costs substantially without telling you, so you won't have a chance to pay the lower fee level...

I completely agree with the comments above.. One of the reasons for the softening demand from corporate customers is not because of the economy.. It is the nickle and diming of CX's best customers.. J, F, gold and diamond pax... increase of fares are acceptable when the passengers can see some improvement in service levels.. but when the opposite is happening, people question why they should be loyal to CX...

Our own company for example, has not reduced the travel spend from the previous year.... however, more and more of our staff are choosing to fly on other carriers because of the cost cutting measures by CX, on top of the ridiculous amounts they are raising their fares by.. The arrogance of the airline is just too much, and they find other carriers much better value for money...

And downgrading passenger from F to J at the airlines' own discretion to downgrade from 3-class to 2-class aircraft while leaving the passenger to scramble search for compensation (which he still has not gotten) isn't going to make things better.

agreed. in fact i've been so fed up that I got myself comped to Star Alliance Gold (from CX Gold, a bargain) explaining that i'm done with CX and want to move my business. cx won't need to fuss around greeting me in my flight, save yourself the dime.

Difficult times? Oil has dropped to below $100 today, but we don't see the fuel surcharge dropping!

I hardly fly CX anymore these days. Not since they increased the fuel surcharge and when one flies through HKG, the fuel surcharge is always doubled each direction. All this adds up eventually.

Yeah. From DM to GR in 3 years. Pity. CX's loss. I don't even bother writing in to management anymore.

But I miss CX's famed service and the other day just flew TPE-HKG in J. Sniff. I do miss them though.

If my recent flights on the two carriers are anything to go by, I can't see why anyone would choose to fly CX over SU in J, though I imagine there may be enough F demand to make the route profitable for Cathay.

The CX/KA connections to Hainan and SE Asian beach destinations help to fill Y. There is more than enough biz demand to mainland China and SE Asia from Moscow in the premium classes as well.

A nice lounge in Moscow and voila.

I'm still flying CX and probably so in the near future. Flying LAX-MNL-LAX a month, CX still offers the best schedule/service for me. I am concerned about the hike in ticket prices as these trips are coming directly out of my pocket.

I will start looking at alternatives, maybe KE, SQ and JAL will be adequate. PR , while a non-stop flight, is is out of the question..I just don't need the stress levels of delayed and inadequate service every month.

The Cathay lounges do make the trips a lot less stressful and its one of the reasons for me to keep flying with them. I'm sure the cost cutting will/has hit these services as well.

I will start looking at alternatives, maybe KE, SQ and JAL will be adequate. PR , while a non-stop flight, is is out of the question..I just don't need the stress levels of delayed and inadequate service every month.

You should look at BR.. pretty good product at a very reasonable price..

I agree that you should look at EVA as their prices are cheaper than CX and distance/timing is better (as TPE is closer than HKG for the range to MNL). Also, if you don't really mind the safety records, CAL is a choice as well.

By the way, I find this post is somewhat directing at the recent staff problems more than what's written previous.

It is really really sad to see CX loosing many businesses from Gold & Diamond members. But with the downhill trend in many aspects who can blame them? As a Diamond myself I have also witnessed them. So these are not a one time occurrence nor a scenario of a great airline having an off day. These are consistent degrading.

For me there are certain flying routes where I easily take my business elsewhere but there are also certain ones where I can't. I for example fly multiple roundtrips every year between Canada and HKG. Here it is very difficult for me to pick someone else outside of CX because for example the only other competitor on the YYZ-HKG route is AC who offers inferior service, IFE, and food to CX.

However when I fly the Kangaroo route annually, AKL-LHR-AKL being the most often, I never give my business to CX as I always choose SQ. But ex-YYZ, SQ is not an option as they do not fly there and AC is still miles behind CX in many ways for me not to choose them.

So I guess we can only hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel through these downhill trend. Don't get me wrong, CX is carrier that has always had a special place in my heart and I would always love them to perform well. They are still IMO one of the top airlines but with things evidently not going so well and not heading in the right direction, I can only dread how many more backward steps will they take?

You should look at BR.. pretty good product at a very reasonable price..

EVA is not cheaper in biz than CX also check out the SE Asia forum to see how much they have trimmed service as well. I flew biz from LHR to TPE a few weeks ago and it is light years off what CX offer.

It is really really sad to see CX loosing many businesses from Gold & Diamond members. But with the downhill trend in many aspects who can blame them? As a Diamond myself I have also witnessed them. So these are not a one time occurrence nor a scenario of a great airline having an off day. These are consistent degrading.

For me there are certain flying routes where I easily take my business elsewhere but there are also certain ones where I can't. I for example fly multiple roundtrips every year between Canada and HKG. Here it is very difficult for me to pick someone else outside of CX because for example the only other competitor on the YYZ-HKG route is AC who offers inferior service, IFE, and food to CX.

However when I fly the Kangaroo route annually, AKL-LHR-AKL being the most often, I never give my business to CX as I always choose SQ. But ex-YYZ, SQ is not an option as they do not fly there and AC is still miles behind CX in many ways for me not to choose them.

So I guess we can only hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel through these downhill trend. Don't get me wrong, CX is carrier that has always had a special place in my heart and I would always love them to perform well. They are still IMO one of the top airlines but with things evidently not going so well and not heading in the right direction, I can only dread how many more backward steps will they take?


How about making it possible to talk to someone on a phone or replying to emails, they are the worst airline I have ever dealt with on this front

So interesting to see all the negative comments relating to CX. My Dad enjoys CX so much, that for all flights to China he will only use CX, and is considering changing to CX for flights on the Kangaroo route. He says the new seats are comfortable and didn't find them narrow at all, and that the service on his flights with CX/KA has always been impeccable. I am yet to fly CX, so can't comment myself, but all opinions I get put CX and SQ up there equally with eachother...but SQ winning out recently because of A380, in partiular the Suites product.

I have been flying CX quite frequently in the last 14 years, but not quite enough to be a DM. Anyway, I make special efforts to fly CX/KA for my monthly trips to China as this seems to be the logical choice.

As to their service, I do see that has been steadily declining. The FAs are not as friendly especially in the back cabin.

Their new J seats are really disappointing. I could not sleep well even though I was using my CPAP.:(

Can someone highlight what the service issues have been recently?

I flew JFK-YVR-HKG in F in June and it was fantastic.

I'm flying JFK-HKG-PVG r/t later this month in J and again in November, a bit out of the way vs. AA via ORD or NRT, but I get extra miles and the flat bed, and our corporate fare was much lower.

I did JFK-HKG r/t in December in J on CX and thought it was fine. I've never been a fan of the CX J catering, particularly the main courses, but I didn't notice much of a degredation vs previous trips.

I have to disagree with most people on this thread.

I've noticed, since about Jan 08 that service and food has improved considerably, at least in First Class.

Some noticeable changes:
- The flight attendants working in First Class are exclusively the “special crew” we’ve become accustomed to whereas until early this year, you'd often find Business Class flight attendants working in First Class.

- The food quality has increased substantially. No longer is First Class served the same food as Business Class (but on different plates). Example: Long Haul “supper flights” now get a full selection of desserts whereas until last year, “supper flights” got a tub of Haagen Daz ice cream.

I don’t know if we can attribute the improvements to the scathing letters many of us have sent to CX, but First Class is flawless.

Business Class is another story. The flight attendants are nothing special, the seats are terrible (too narrow).

It's too bad that CX has devolved into two different airlines; the airline First Class passengers see, and the airline Business and Economy passengers see.

Well after a bad HKG-LAX in J in June and very good HKG-SFO in F last month and a great SFO-HKG in F last month, let's see what I'll get in F this week HKG-LHR-HKG. I can only hope it is the latter two instead of the former. The last time I took a HKG-LHR sector in F had average crew and just plain horrendous catering and this was the first ever flight in which I experienced the new 74A. Hard to predict the quality of catering and quality of the crew in the premium cabins these days with CX.

- The flight attendants working in First Class are exclusively the “special crew” we’ve become accustomed to whereas until early this year, you'd often find Business Class flight attendants working in First Class. Well, frankly, it's pretty easy for 2 flight attendants serving 6-9 max F passengers pretty personalized service. Worst case, the meal service drags a bit if the cabin is full, but after that it shouldn't be too difficult to provide top-notch service.

I just got off the CX 888 HKG-YVR-JFK, in J on ud. The service on the first leg was dreadful- really reminded me of bad experiences on US domestic flights- absence of personal attention, perfunctory delivery of service, overlooking of readily apparent needs, etc. The second leg with new crew was better but I was still astonished at how bad it could be on this airline that is storied for its service.

Can someone highlight what the service issues have been recently?

I flew JFK-YVR-HKG in F in June and it was fantastic.

I'm flying JFK-HKG-PVG r/t later this month in J and again in November, a bit out of the way vs. AA via ORD or NRT, but I get extra miles and the flat bed, and our corporate fare was much lower.

I did JFK-HKG r/t in December in J on CX and thought it was fine. I've never been a fan of the CX J catering, particularly the main courses, but I didn't notice much of a degredation vs previous trips.

1.) J issues have been highlighted many times. Young FAs, very inconsistent service, mediocre food, J product rollout problems. The alternative CO HKG-JFK is apparently worse...but that's not saying much.

2.) Re F, it sounds like you haven't been in a full F cabin with two FAs on 74A, because breakfast does indeed come very slow and you end up having to wake up way too early. Dinner is also a pain if everyone wants it at the same time...and if you have a few pax who are very needy - which they should be entitled to in F - it slows service down drastically. In essence the FAs end up overworked, which hurts the pax experience. F catering seems fine to me, although others on this thread aren't a big fan of it.

It also depends on your point of view. For US flyers who are used to AA or UA, CX is probably a nice refresher. It's difficult for me though who is paying a lot of money to CX each year to see standards decline. It's not like I'm paying $1k a flight or something and using certs to get into J or F. I'm paying money from a small firm that I'm a partner in - usually at a clip of $10k-$20k a time - for crappier and crappier service.

And on another note...SQ actually DECREASED its fuel surcharges I think in Y and J, which to me gives a lot of credibility to the charge. How about CX? Highly doubt it.

On my last HKG-LHR flight in F on the 74A, it took nearly 4 hours after take off for the dinner service to be finished... it only sped up at the end when some FAs from J came up to help... wrote a letter into customer service to complain, and got an upgrade voucher for it... but the point is that 2 FAs in F on a full flight does not work, even if its only 9 pax...

According to today's SCMP, SQ is lobbying for rights to fly HKG-NYC, arguing that the routes are under-served.

I hope they get approval (though I doubt it). I'd take their new J for 16 hours any day over CX's new J.

According to today's SCMP, SQ is lobbying for rights to fly HKG-NYC, arguing that the routes are under-served.

I hope they get approval (though I doubt it). I'd take their new J for 16 hours any day over CX's new J.

I believe HK is more open to 5th freedom rights than other countries...but I might be wrong.

Business Class is another story. The flight attendants are nothing special, the seats are terrible (too narrow).

I guess I'm in the minority, as I like the new J seats. I sleep much better in them than the previous version. Yes, they are a bit narrow, and during daytime flights this may be more of an issue. But most of my longhaul CX flights are overnight, so I really prefer to sleep...

I had a couple of flights on Thai in Y class over the weekend. I was amazed by how friendly and efficient the FA's were, proper hot towels, a cognac run after dinner, not skimping on the drinks. CX should hang it's head in shame in some areas.

I believe HK is more open to 5th freedom rights than other countries...but I might be wrong.

Not really, just look at the bilateral that was signed with Taiwan a while ago... Hong Kong is quite protective towards it's own airlines... while Cathay Pacific received five routes that certainly aren't low yields (TPE-ICN/TPE-NRT/TPE-KIX/TPE-NGO/TPE-FUK), what did the Taiwanese Airlines get (HKG-BKK/HKG-KUL/HKG-SIN/HKG-CGK/HKG-???)? I don't even know if HKG-DPS is on the list... BKK is no where comparable to NRT...

And on another note...SQ actually DECREASED its fuel surcharges I think in Y and J, which to me gives a lot of credibility to the charge. How about CX? Highly doubt it.

I thought fuel surcharges in HK were regulated by the CAD, and CX is locked into the current fuel surcharge for two months from 1 August (I think that was when the last round was approved by the CAD). Also not sure what SQ's fuel surcharges are in hard money terms relative to CX (rather than saying SQ "lowered" them - that's not saying much if they were higher than CX's to begin with).

2 FA's serve F on the 333/34C (8 pax) and seem to manage just fine, so I don't see why 2 serving 9 should be so much more rushed. After all the ratio used to be 1:4 (3:12) and it is now 1:4.5

I thought fuel surcharges in HK were regulated by the CAD, and CX is locked into the current fuel surcharge for two months from 1 August (I think that was when the last round was approved by the CAD). Also not sure what SQ's fuel surcharges are in hard money terms relative to CX (rather than saying SQ "lowered" them - that's not saying much if they were higher than CX's to begin with).

2 FA's serve F on the 333/34C (8 pax) and seem to manage just fine, so I don't see why 2 serving 9 should be so much more rushed. After all the ratio used to be 1:4 (3:12) and it is now 1:4.5

I have no idea about CX's fuel charges, but SQ short hauls (SIN to SE Asia) will drop from $40US to $36US per sector. From SIN medium haul destinations, like Middle East, Japan, Korea etc. the fare drops from $110US to $100US. Long hauls remain unchanged. Regardless SQ's move seems like a good gesture to me, and it does sound odd to be "locked into" charging more revenue.

As for your second point, I'm speaking from experience...it simply takes longer and it's inconvenient when the flight has 8 or 9 pax, especially on overnights from the US i.e. SFO or LAX. I don't really know how else to explain this except that I notice the difference and I don't enjoy it.

ALSO...it's a bit of a trap to think like that. You can't look at it by the 1:4.5 ratio and say it got 12.5% more inefficient...because cutting one out actually makes it much more inefficient than that. Think of it like this: Before, one FA could prepare more time-intensive things in the galley while two served (1:6 ratio). Now, however, you actually have 1:9 if one of the FAs is tied up with something. That's actually 50% "worse" service now, instead of the 12.5%! Anyhow, enough for the math. It is just much slower than previously, and my guess is this is partly why. But I'm not a happy camper.

Apologies for a bit of vitriol on this one, but this is a point I really feel strongly about as my last two 74A experience last month were full, and I felt this was really a big let-down, paying full fare F and having a nearly hour-long breakfast service after being woken up over three hours before landing.

As for your second point, I'm speaking from experience...it simply takes longer and it's inconvenient when the flight has 8 or 9 pax, especially on overnights from the US i.e. SFO or LAX. I don't really know how else to explain this except that I notice the difference and I don't enjoy it.

Oh, I don't disagree that service is slower... just wondering why, given the ratios on the Airbus series. Is the 77A ratio 2:6 (1:3)? I assume it's not 1:6...

I know that JL for one charges immensely hefty surcharges (closing in on AUD1000 on their SYD-NRT route for example). I know oil prices are on the way down but if CX has not been able to recoup the full spike in oil over the past year - and it hasn't due to it needing to apply to increase the fuel surcharge (also by the cap on the percentage increase that is allowed) - then it is probably understandable that they will allow the present surcharge to run for the length of the allowed period. Oil is one area where I can be quite sympathetic to them...

I've never flown F on an Airbus, but I have done the old 747 config with 12 seats and a 1-to-4 FA-to-pax ratio. When there are 12 or even 11 passengers, the service noticably slows. I would imagine with a full load of 8 pax on an airbus it would be slow as well, equally as bad as 12 on the old 747 with 3 FAs. So certainly with 8 in the current 74A config it should be about the same as a full load in the old 744 or Airbus, but add that ninth passenger and it's a bit worse.

But I wonder how F load factors are in the new configurations. Obviously capacity was reduced, but prices were raised as well, so some demand likely fell off. The real issue I guess is whether you're more or less likely to get a full F cabin today than in the past. I don't know. I did JFK-YVR-HKG in June and there were 3 total pax on the first leg and I think 5 or 6 on the second, so service was great.

The 773ERs I assume are fine when full at a 1:3 ratio.

2 FA's serve F on the 333/34C (8 pax) and seem to manage just fine, so I don't see why 2 serving 9 should be so much more rushed. After all the ratio used to be 1:4 (3:12) and it is now 1:4.5

My flight on NH in June had 3 FAs for 8 seats - and only 3 passengers... Really nice!

LA had 2 FAs for only five seats in F.

JAL had 3 FAs for 9 seats on the 777.

On my late afternoon flight in Y from KUL to HKG yesterday:

1) Drinks round has been replaced by pre-poured orange juice, apple juice and water and you take a cup from the tray from the flight attendant.
2) For dinner, the appetizer consisted of cut fruit: pineapple, watermelon and melon. They kept the ice cream bar though, to my surprise.
3) They ran out of water for the wash basin in the toilets about two hours into the flight. Not sure if they purposely carried less water for the flight or whether it was a fluke.

TG and MH definitely win for food in Y.

Off topic: on both HKG-KUL and KUL-HKG segments they seem to have a few non-HKer flight attendants, at least more than usual compared to flights within the last couple of years. The ISMs on both flights (both not from HK) kept popping back to the Y cabin, and they weren't there just to say hi to the Diamonds it seemed.

As far as I know, it is still possible to ask for beer, wine, G&T, etc in Y, but the trolley-based drinks service seems to be becoming quite rare these days.

Christep - you are right. Ask for it and they will give it to you. They just don't make it part of the standardized service.

hm..for my last 4 sectors HKG/SIN on SQ last year......SQ also only offer prepoured drink after take off if my memory is right : OJ, AJ and beer......

On my late afternoon flight in Y from KUL to HKG yesterday:

1) Drinks round has been replaced by pre-poured orange juice, apple juice and water and you take a cup from the tray from the flight attendant.
2) For dinner, the appetizer consisted of cut fruit: pineapple, watermelon and melon. They kept the ice cream bar though, to my surprise.
3) They ran out of water for the wash basin in the toilets about two hours into the flight. Not sure if they purposely carried less water for the flight or whether it was a fluke.

TG and MH definitely win for food in Y.

Off topic: on both HKG-KUL and KUL-HKG segments they seem to have a few non-HKer flight attendants, at least more than usual compared to flights within the last couple of years. The ISMs on both flights (both not from HK) kept popping back to the Y cabin, and they weren't there just to say hi to the Diamonds it seemed.

I have only seen this on the less than 3hr flights ie BKK, KUL, etc. SIN still has trolley service. I actually found it weird that on these short regional flights that they would have a full drinks service, then serve a meal. I would be happier if they threw out the meals and served drinks with the meal, and then do a drinks service after the meal.

It's not the cost cutting that I care about per se, as it has to happen. That I understand. Charge me more if you need to in F or J. But stop the ridiculous bleeding that is inconsistent (and oftentimes horrible) service - especially for GOs and DMs, bad food, and a lousy and ill-conceived product roll-out.

I agree, this should also apply to Oneworld too (especially AA).

You should look at BR.. pretty good product at a very reasonable price..

I like BR, except the foods are bad (not eatable) only the wine selection is great.
BR does not belong to any group mades BR less atractive. I was Gold with alot of miles, but now I don't know when can I cash it. I wish BR joint 1W soon.

Off topic: on both HKG-KUL and KUL-HKG segments they seem to have a few non-HKer flight attendants, at least more than usual compared to flights within the last couple of years. The ISMs on both flights (both not from HK) kept popping back to the Y cabin, and they weren't there just to say hi to the Diamonds it seemed.

Staying on your OT, CX's ISMs do spend a lot of time in Y. When I am in J, the only moments I can see the ISMs seem to be when they stop by to greet me. On the other hand, I rarely see KA's CP in Y.

Apologies for a bit of vitriol on this one, but this is a point I really feel strongly about as my last two 74A experience last month were full, and I felt this was really a big let-down, paying full fare F and having a nearly hour-long breakfast service after being woken up over three hours before landing.

They normally serve breakfast about 2.5 hours before landing, but as you were in F, you could have told them when to serve. You also could ask for a "shorter" meal.