Originally Posted by
Reply1984
But It triggers my thought when you talked about 'Central and Southern bureau'. I will say it is more like a harassment from the airline based in Guangzhou. Membership of OW for CZ can be a reason for this harassment, but it seems that CX has already vetoed it and CZ finally finds an opportunity for their revenge. Please keep in mind that CZ says that they will not consider joining any alliance for now.
And yes I will say I don't see any further harassment from CAAC, but it is not because of CZ. The warning from CAAC came in the early August, when the central government took a tougher line on HK protesters. At that time, the national TV and newspaper of China fully unleashed their propaganda and broadcast the videos of PLA and riot police everyday, threatening sending tanks to streets in Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific is one of the victims in this period.
Excellent observation! But, I'll take it a step further and suggest that CZ is giving the middle finger to the entire alliance system, and CX just happens to be the squeaky wheel. Leaving Skyteam also made sense for them; DL, which seems hell bent on running the show, got in bed with both KE and MU, which simply isn't in alignment with CZ's aspirations.
It will be interesting to watch their Beijing ramp up over the course of the next 6-12 months. My thinking is that the AA partnership alone isn't going to be sufficient to suck up all of the supply they are injecting into the market, but that OW membership wouldn't address their needs well even if it was on offer. I'm thinking more bilaterals, using AA as a reference marker (i.e. see how that pans out, and optimize accordingly).