Inside the “Culture of Fear” at Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific employees describe an increasingly mistrustful, suspicious and fraught work environment following pressure from Chinese regulators, a string of employee firings and the abrupt resignation of top airline executives. Some claim that merely voicing support for the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong has cost co-workers their livelihoods.

As anti-government protests enter a ninth consecutive month, Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)-based Cathay Pacific Airlines has increasingly been drawn into the fray. Now, the airline’s employees are going public with firsthand accounts of a workplace that has become rife with suspicion, mistrust and seething hostility. Some crew members and airport workers say that both pro-democracy advocates and government officials have sought to enlist the Hong Kong flag carrier as a pawn in the sometimes violent political dispute.

Pro-democracy advocates have forced Cathay into the spotlight by encouraging the airline’s workforce to honor a number of general strikes called in response to moves by officials seen as infringing on the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China’s autonomy. Meanwhile, protesters have repeatedly targeted the airport and transportation links to HKG as a means of focusing international attention on their plight.

After the airport was ordered closed for nearly two full days in August due to large crowds of protesters, HKG officials ran full-page ads begging demonstrators not to obstruct airport operations. Protesters created havoc with ground transportation to and from the facility despite the pleas.

“Spare our passengers further disruption,” one print ad read. “We again strongly urge protesters not to disrupt the journey of tens of thousands of travelers who use our airport every day.”

Earlier this summer, the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) reportedly told Cathay management that crew members alleged to have participated in the “illegal protests” would not be permitted to enter mainland China even while on duty. A number of the airline’s most senior executives, including CEO Rupert Hogg, are said to have resigned rather than supply Chinese officials with the names of employees believed to have participated in anti-government demonstrations.

Faced with pushback from government regulators, including stepped-up safety inspections and increased scrutiny of crew members upon entry to China, the new management team at Cathay soon took a decidedly harder line. Following a string of high profile firings of employees who had allegedly been outspoken in support for the demonstrators (including at least one Cathay Dragon cabin crew member who was reportedly terminated for “liking” a pro-democracy post on social media), executives served notice seeming to indicate in internal communications that merely voicing support for protesters could be grounds for termination. Further policy updates made clear that Cathay employees are expected to report coworkers suspected of supporting the protest movement.

“Some cabin crew support the government, and have given fellow workers’ names to the company who have talked about supporting the protests and thence been terminated,” an unnamed Cathay captain told CNN this week.  “The company has actively asked for whistleblowers to come forward, creating a divide amongst fellow employees. Everyone has deleted chat groups and social media (profiles) that have any mention of the protests. The cabin crew don’t even want to talk about the protests in the open, let alone admit they attend protests.”

To make matters worse for rank-and-file workers, the economic impact of the continuing unrest in the region has forced Cathay to tighten its belt at a time when job security is already tenuous. Following a report that tourism to Hong Kong has dropped by nearly 40 percent, airline officials announced the carrier had eliminated flights and introduced a hiring freeze as of September.