Flight attendants from Cathay Pacific Airways are demanding a 5.5% pay rise to reflect sacrifices they have made for the company, saying the troubled carrier should not use its data breach crisis as an “excuse”. The airline’s Flight Attendants Union is heading into year-end negotiations with management just as Hong Kong’s flag carrier is embroiled in a massive cyberattack incident affecting 9.4m passengers. “Cathay Pacific tries their very best to make use of all sorts of reasons to lower the percentage [of pay increase], but we based our rise on what they tell stakeholders, and the forecast [next year] should be very good,” union vice-chairwoman Dora Lai Yuk-sim said. She added: “We don’t think there is an excuse for them to, all of a sudden after the data leakage, say business will go down.” Cabin crew this year received a below-inflation 1% rise, half of what non-managerial staff received in 2017. They are now seeking 5.5% on the basis of helping the company recover lost earnings by previously taking a lower raise. The city’s inflation rate stood at 2.7% in September.<br/>