oneworld

Cathay Pacific offered a voluntary early retirement package to employees in Japan as part of a 3-year restructuring effort to revive earnings growth. Cathay is undergoing a “comprehensive review” of regional organisation including Northeast Asia, which consists of Japan, Taiwan and Korea, the airline’s Japan office said. Employees in Japan were briefed on the general outline of the new organisation at a July 23 meeting, where the voluntary early retirement program was also announced, it said. CE Rupert Hogg is trying to turn around Cathay’s fortunes in the face of growing competition from budget carriers and Chinese rivals. Cathay -- which cut 600 jobs in Hong Kong last year -- would be looking at restructuring overseas operations after the efforts in its home city, chairman John Slosar said in August last year. <br/>

The head of Malaysia’s Civil Aviation Authority has resigned in the wake of the latest report on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. CAA chairman Azharuddin Abdul Rahman announced he will leave the agency in 14 days. A report released this week by a multinational investigation team highlighted lapses in communication and coordination between air traffic controllers in Malaysia and Vietnam. The report concluded that these shortcomings delayed alerting and search and rescue operations. Rahman said that while the report does not suggest the crash was caused by Malaysian aviation officials, “nevertheless, there are very apparent findings with regard to the operations of the Kuala Lumpur air traffic control centre.” <br/>