Singapore does have a very technocratic government, where the proper technical operation of the show does have the preference, as is supported by the majority of Singaporeans.

Hong Kong / China does have a government, centered around themselves, to stay in power, whatever happens, whatever force/enforcement is needed, based on their own near-religious belief of their personal view on society, independent whether the people in the country they "serve", when free to speak out, would approve.

That's a major difference. and it reflects, as the comments on CX in this forum show.

I cannot believe how many people are defending Cathay.

Swire has run the airline down and made it third rate.
Stop blaming the culture of China or the government.

The Hong Kong government has not told CX to treat passengers like crap, serve slop for food, have a stupid 6 weeks reply whatsapp contact service or fire all the best staff.

Have they? Must have been posted on Wechat or XHS

On the topic of why more SOE involvement, or more PRC involvement, isn't helpful to Cathay - it's not because anyone looks "down" upon any country, government, or business. It's a business culture clash; while many things between HK and China seem to be becoming more and more alike, in business there are still differences. I'm sure a lot of us here are in the finance industry, we all know - and remember - what happened to CLSA in the years prior and after the merger.

Here's a refresher, with excerpts from the SCMP.

It involves bruised egos, lost bonuses and a culture clash that some say was inevitable after Citic Securities bought CLSA six years ago, putting the freewheeling Hong Kong institution in the hands of a state-owned giant that ultimately answers to China’s Communist Party.

It was an awkward marriage from the start. Whereas Citic was a product of China’s top-down brand of state capitalism, CLSA was founded by two former journalists in Hong Kong and was imbued with its hometown’s independent streak.

Source: https://www.scmp.com/business/bankin...ecurities-clsa

While I agree with many comments made by NZFlyer777 I must say that Cathay can at times still surprise on the upside. Today I flew business class as always with my family from Penang to Hong Kong and had a really good meal with good service. I was not alone, both my wife an my son separately and unprompted commented on how much they enjoyed the meal. This is in complete contrast to service on the Manila flights which is miserable and a recent trip to London which surprised on the downside. As for comments on Mongkok girls I have yet to meet any which may be due to my being a lifetime member and as such pampered by the ISMs and those within her purview. But the Wing has crashed after the reintroduction of the buffet service. I fear for the Pier.

Assuming your FT handle reflects where you come from, I think, you have no idea what the environment can have on influence on how a population/people function.

When living in a free Western state, so many things are taken for granted, that a state functions, without having to have second thoughts, things which aren't common in authoritarian states. Think only about the persistent culture of lying, required to survive in a dictatorial environment. This gets so much ingrained in daily life, that people simply have no longer an expectation of what can be relied on and what is just a facade, crumbling on the first touch. Their expectation horizon goes down from the common Western type of long-term planning to just "now". More is not available, because it can change at any moment, just like what the powers-to-be have in their mind, so not worth spending money on. So people don't count on it, let alone, invest in a future based on that / those wishes. Only short-term thinking remains.

And, the result of that situation is this:

And, of course, companies make mistakes, though that happens everywhere.

As someone who regularly flies economy, I find the carping about service levels in this thread kind of funny - economy service is barely ever distinguishable. But Cathay stands out for entertainment - there's a reason it was just ranked first in this category by Skytrax. I also find it more comfortable at least in a non-middle seat than the one flight I've taken to HK on a competitor (LH) and appreciate the little touches it still has like paper menus. Food in economy is rarely very distinguishable but my recollection is Cathay was slightly better on that score as well.

Beyond HK I've flown a lot on BA/AA "post-pandemic" and find them less reliable/more variable.

The airlines that you mention are not Asian - that is the difference in mind- set as I believed was fairly obvious. Most Asian airlines will not bully their staff into line as Emirates and the other sandpit airlines are often reported as doing. No right or wrong way just personal choice

Most people on this forum I feel take an intelligent balanced view.
Some seemingly do not preferring to voice unrelenting aggressive often unfounded criticism which prompts others, self included to endeavour to restore a balance and offer a factual view. I am not sure if this is interesting to fellow posters or not?

I've had a few flights with them in recent months and did find service to be a bit inconsistent, but I give them benefit of doubt given they're ramping up operations and probably got a lot of newer green staff.

YYZ-HKG (Premium Economy) : Decent food, some cutbacks but a very comfortable transpacific crossing.
HKG-TPE & TPE-HKG : Uneventful, timely, with a hot rice meal in both sectors, a contrast to years ago when we got a bun in a doggy bag.
XMN-HKG : 50 minute flight the crew worked their rear-ends off to distribute and collect a hot rice meal. I felt sorry for them and they all kept their composure despite the very tight time limit.
ICN-HKG : 1 surly crew but the meals were distributed quick enough although I was surprised appetizer was gone although the nice ice-cream is back.

As a general perception, there is a wider mix of happy cheerful and stoic staff. I don't necessarily put much focus on who is smiling or not as it doesn't impact too much my experience, but I do agree service consistency is a problem, but the overall product is still good and not enough to deter me from flying Cathay. They're definitely not third rate or anywhere close to that. I've had much worse experiences flying LH (the food was absolutely awful) and MU (online check-in turned off entirely).

I agree, on 4 short haul CX flights I have been on this year, the staff are generally helpful and friendly. Service flows are a bit different on each flight though it doesn't impact my own personal perception that much. Cost cutting is evident (eg removal of bottled water, 2 rounds of drinks etc.) but I understand it is expected for them to recover from the 3 years of horror. The other aspects of their product like the seat, IFE, ground experience etc. are the things that really attract me to go for CX. Plus, as an ex-HKG flyer, CX still remains as the most convenient carrier for me to use.

More discontent from flight crew https://hongkongfp.com/2023/08/13/fu...e-a-dream-job/

I won’t blame them, they should seek their market value either here or elsewhere. CX needs to pay market price, and we all need to suffer when the math doesn’t work.

Eventually I see a Qatarisation of the airline.

What does Qatarisation of the airline mean?

We import all our labour shortages at market.

We should separate what are within CX's control and what are not. Look at the other companies who operate in wherever with such or similar macro power structures, what have they said/done and what have they not said/done?

I would give CX some time and leeway to fix what is broken. As they recover, they should share the gains with its staff.

Regardless of ownership structure and political leanings, CX is still a HK homegrown brand which I hope that it can continue to thrive.