Cathay Pacific offers pilots $3,700 bonuses to keep flying

Cathay Pacific is offering bonuses of up to HK$29,000 ($3,700) to pilots willing to endure Hong Kong’s strict quarantine regime in a bid to get more planes in the air. Captains who fly two so-called closed loop flights will get a HK$22,000 bonus, rising to HK$29,000 for four or more closed loops, according to a staff memo seen by Bloomberg News and confirmed by the airline’s press office. First officers will get HK$17,000 for two loops and HK$24,000 for four or more. Closed-loop flights involve aircrew operating flights for three to four weeks non-stop, staying in hotel isolation between flights and then spending up to two weeks in quarantine at the end of their deployment before being allowed to return home. The onerous conditions and long absences from family and friends have made it difficult for Cathay to adequately staff and operate its services. Cathay Pacific has lurched from the crisis of the 2019 pro-democracy protests that triggered a management overhaul, to the two-year pandemic that has crippled the carrier. Without a domestic market to fall back on and Hong Kong largely isolated from the rest of the world by its strict Covid-Zero policy, the airline has had to rely on a HK$39 billion government bailout and 6,000 jobs cuts to survive. The carrier is operating just 2% of pre-pandemic passenger capacity and 20% of pre-Covid cargo capacity -- the lowest level at any time since the start of the pandemic. <br/>