it is sometimes hard to distinguish between the impact of management quality and of market conditions.
CX had some wonderful Golden years. it was beautifully positioned to benefit from China economic explosion and dramatic international travel growth:.Mainland airlines mediocrity, US airlines demise and lower quality of most European airlines. No need to be great CEO to capitalize on this extremely favorable situation.
But good management needs vision and ability to adapt quickly to market changes. It seems like CX never saw the triple whammy coming: ME3 to Europe, Chinese airlines coming of age and US airlines shining again. Their only success is in reining in LCCs, but that has more to do with clubby HK protectionism and airport saturation. Many, many mistakes besides failing to improve productivity. Slow to order smaller planes (787, 350), failure to develop significant partnerships, bad Y shell seats that needed to be replaced by better reclining ones, mediocre regional seats, mediocre catering (not only budget restrictions but no sense of taste changes), peculiar financial strategies, etc... And when the crisis hits, CX only plans timid changes rather than adopt a drastic plan. It stills look like an old British club where managers have no accountability.
Of course, CX might be lucky and get a break.