I think these children, I mean pilots, are ridiculous. I have even less sympathy for these brats than I did for the millionaire US baseball players when they went on strike.

Many people would be happy to make $300,000/year in return for working 6 days a month (with a great pension to boot!). They are being asked to take a modest pay cut in return for stock options which would (appropriately) link their fortunes to that of the company. This is not a hardship; it is an opportunity.

------------------
Cheers,
HKF

Just because a company did not make a profit for the first time in 35 years does not mean that it has to cut costs that drastically.

Look what Cathay had to go through this year alone - first it was the "No smiles" campaign launched by their flight attendants over , again, pay disputes, and now "No show" campaign by the pilots. What next? "No bags" by the baggage handlers?

Cathay really needs to buckle up and take management issues at hand. All this "pilots are calling in sick and we are doing all we can" is simply inexcusable. First they alienated a huge percentage of their Marco Polo members when they joined the "big league" oneWorld, and now this.

Take a lesson and see who is raking in the profits in Asia year after year. Do not blame the "asian economy". Their competitor is also in Asia, and they seem to be doing a lot better than Cathay is.

The most important issue after this calms down is...is AsiaMiles going to offer double miles for people to take Cathay again?

I agree with HKF...in particular I think it's very irresponsible of them to abuse their rights...

"All the pilots that have called in sick did so on the advice of a qualified doctor. That's not irresponsible. That's totally responsible behaviour and in line with the law."

"Aircrew Officers' Association general secretary John Findlay said uncertainty over his members' futures might have left them psychologically unfit for duty. He said the advice was called for under the Civil Aviation Department's Air Navigation (Hong Kong) Order 1995."

I'd say these comments are pretty ridiculous...if you want to go on a strike, do it and say you do it...don't tell the pilots to call in sick, which literally means going on a strike, and then say the laws require you to do it...

FYI, a couple of days ago I read an article from a local newspaper...they're comparing salaries of pilots of different airlines (which all happened to be oneworld)..."A scale" (senior) aircrew/pilots of CX are making US$250k a year in salaries and allowances, compared to "B scale" CX - ~US$190k; BA - ~US$190k, QF - ~US$140k, and CP - ~US$140k. "B scale" aircrew who joined CX after 1993 are no affected by the current pay dispute; their salary will be increased by 7.1% to 10.2% over the next 2 years.

I agree Singapore does a fantastic job. In my opinion it is because the service is so wonderful that people are price-insensitive and will take SQ even if it is moderatley more expensive. That is a VERY powerful tool in an industry that is prone to price wars.

Cathay, on the other hand, has miserable, even surly, service. I never take fly Cathay when Thai, JAL, ANA, Qantas, Ansett, ANZ, United or SQ is an alternative.

As for cutting costs, the Cathay pilots are the highest paid in the world by a healthy margin. Why should this be so? Perhaps the HKG based pilots need to be well compensated because the cost of living here is so high (although they all live on luxury yachts in Discovery Bay), but why should pilots based in Enlgand make so much more than BA pilots?

Celestar340...in addition to double miles, hopefully they can take some time to consider my previous Marco Polo request...I'm still waiting now, after a month since I got Peter Buecking's reply...

I don't think CX will offer double Asiamiles promotion, as they may think HK ppl, or I should say ppl in Asia don't care as much as the American folks of the miles point. So why will CX waste this sum of 'money' to do that.

tedhl - I was wondering if you're caught up in all this mess!

I'm angry at both airline and pilots. The airline for having poor foresight and management (look at tedhl's MPO membership woes) and the pilots for calling in sick. Well, if we're that sick, maybe you should be retiring, then! What stress? You mean flying an airplane is not stressful when management meetings are?

Does anyone remember the strike by cabin attendants way back in 1991/92? about a week before Chinese New Year that paralyzed the airline. CX literally had to charter any plane it can find (some US carriers even) to fly their peak loads into and out of HK. I heard many people refused to take CX after that!

I think the last strike was in Jan 93 as I still remember after 21 ppl were dead in Lan Kwai Fong, then came CX FA strike.

Its seems that oneworld is functioning well, at least in passing on the method of strike from one to another. My brother is trapped in HKG now because of this.

About management: there was once a CX flight from LAX-HKG. Due to mechanical problems, the plane landed in ANC and the passengers were left there for 2 days. No CX flights were sent to ANC to pick these poor folks up, nor was there any other arrangement made by CX to get them to HKG. CX management or improvement in management? Well, I could hardly see any.

Even though I'm a HKGer, I've to say something like this: try your best to avoid CX. I've never boarded a CX flight since 1988.

[This message has been edited by yeelam (edited 05-31-99).]

I like CX.....

I was also another victim of the 93 FA strike. Instead of flying CX flights, they sent us on board a World Airways DC-10. What a horrible flying experience. The food, though prepared by CX, was unfresh and eventually made me vomit. They didn't provide any headsets for movies, instead, they turned the whole cabin into a cinema (of coz without surround sound). We had to have 'stort' technical stopover in Alaska, but it took us 6 hours to get back to air again.

At that time, I sweared that I wouldn't fly CX anymore, but I couldn't resist their improvement of services and the quality of safety in these years. However, if they retire or kick those 'sick' pilot away, then I may start to wonder the safety issue again, as those 'sick' pilots are all full experiences.

A similar situation happened about 17 years ago with another asian airline. No one would have thought that Singapore Airlines would experience 'labour problems' but it did. There were talk on 'slowdowns' and possible strike among the pilots. As the deadline loomed, none other than the then PM of Singapore, Mr LKY stepped in and warned the pilots that if they insist on their slowdown, he would dissolve Singapore Airlines limited and create a new company hiring new pilot recruits on a new lower pay scale.

There was no strike. No work slowdown. Everything went back to normal.

I knew I liked him.

That's exactly the kind of treatment unions need to receive more frequently.

Last night CX declined to make bookings until after June 18, 1999. I dont get it. Shouldn't that be when all the nonsense really begins?

My understanding is that the pilots have until June 11, 1999 to accept the current proposal or be uncerimoniously "retired."

It is a shame. This used to be a truly fine airline to rival SQ! I'm putting off my HK travels until later in the year when all this will hopefully have blow over!

I read a local HKG newspaper yesterday that the pilots may organize a serious strike if anyone of them is fired. It's better to hold off any HKG travel.

Cathay's management just had discussions with the Labor Department today (HKG time), after the pilots talked with the Labor Department yesterday...the latest news is that Cathay, the pilots, and the Labor Department will all sit together and talk on Saturday (Jun 5) morning, HKG time...

Celestar340 - no, I wasn't caught up in this mess...such a coincidence that I didn't have to fly at all this week...but I have a confirmed reservation with them Sunday (Jun 6) evening, let's see whether the pilots will recover by then...