oneworld

Passenger confidence about flying on the Boeing 737 Max when it finally returns to service is “not good” at present, according to the boss of American Airlines. But CE Doug Parker has told staff that travellers will trust the plane when “the best pilots in the world who don’t take airplanes up until they know everything about them, they’re comfortable doing it”. Parker said: “Polled today, which a lot of companies are doing including ours, asking people ‘How do you feel about the Max?’, the results are not good. There’s very high awareness of the issue. And there’s real trepidation about whether they would fly it today or not.” He predicted sentiment will start to change when the US regulator approves the Boeing 737 Max to fly again. <br/>

Cathay Dragon flight attendants have been told they can take the rest of 2020 as unpaid leave, while a lucrative pay scheme for cabin crew at Cathay Pacific has been suspended as the embattled airlines look to cut costs in the year ahead. Cathay Pacific, which has borne the brunt of 7 months of anti-govt protests – including a boycott by mainland Chinese customers – last week ran into stiff new headwinds as the growing coronavirus epidemic led to refunds being offered on flights to and from airports north of the border. The company first told employees in November that it planned to cut capacity by 1.4% in 2020, resulting in fewer flying duties for about 13,000 cabin crew and 4,000 pilots. <br/>