More passengers, higher ticket prices and a cargo rebound couldn’t save Cathay Pacific Airways from slumping into yet another loss. For CE Rupert Hogg, that means his restructuring efforts need to strengthen further to turn the tide. After back-to-back annual losses, the carrier is midway through a transformation program under Hogg, who has been cutting jobs and improving services to lure back the premium traveller since taking over as CE in May 2017. “They need to take more drastic and deeper measures in their restructuring efforts,” said Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation consulting firm Endau Analytics. “They need to endure more pain.” Cathay Pacific is “on track” to achieve sustainable long-term performance, Cathay Pacific chairman John Slosar said Wednesday. <br/>
oneworld
Qantas and Virgin are facing increasing pressure from unions, advocacy groups and the public to refuse to participate in the forced removal of asylum seekers from Australia, as airlines around the world boycott deportations. But both of Australia’s major carriers have refused to rule out taking part in future deportations. The issue of corporate co-operation in forced removals came to renewed international attention last month when Swedish student Elin Ersson refused to sit down on a plane at Gothenburg airport, protesting that an Afghan man was being deported “to hell”. She succeeded, and the man was removed from the plane. Similar protests have been staged in Australia, resulting, in some cases, in criminal charges laid against protesters. <br/>