The audience of pilots, flight attendants and other employees was unconvinced. That the subject was even raised reflects the level of anxiety and distrust at the 75-year-old airline, which has gone from being a symbol of Hong Kong’s openness to one of its decline. Made a cautionary tale for businesses that didn’t rein in their staff during 2019’s anti-China protests, Cathay has since been hammered by some of the most stringent travel curbs in the world, as Hong Kong’s government strives to toe Beijing’s isolationist line on walling out the virus. The restrictions have decimated Cathay’s passenger business, leaving it more reliant on cargo operations for income. The airline, due to report annual results on Wednesday, is flying at about 2% of 2019 capacity and is bleeding as much as HK$1.5b ($192m) a month. Cathay’s second-largest investor with a 29.99% share, Air China can’t raise its stake without bidding for the entire company, thanks to a 2006 shareholding agreement. The Beijing-based carrier has downplayed that possibility, with Non-Executive Director Stanley Hui saying in January a takeover “has never been in the minds of anyone in Air China.” Still, such is the level of suspicion among staff at the storied carrier -- especially when it comes to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s Beijing-backed administration -- that speculation persists about the government’s plans for the airline, according to interviews with multiple current and former Cathay workers. By far the city’s dominant airline, Cathay has long been a crucial cog in Hong Kong’s functioning as a financial center and Asian transit hub. But the sheen has come off the company, as it has Hong Kong, which is no longer regarded as the freewheeling, global metropolis it was. The protests and Covid restrictions put paid to that. People are leaving in their thousands. Story has more.<br/>
oneworld
Qantas Airways flagged a period of higher air fares to claw back rising fuel costs as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sends oil prices soaring. “The group is very well placed to be able to recover the cost of fuel if it stays at the levels that it is at the moment,” Qantas CFO Vanessa Hudson said Tuesday. Oil is at its highest level in a decade after the U.S. said it was considering a ban on Russian petroleum imports. A protracted period of costlier fuel, one of the biggest single costs for any airline, threatens to pile more pressure on an aviation industry still struggling to emerge from the pandemic. Hudson said demand for air travel at Qantas is strong enough to tolerate ticket-price hikes, a strategy the Australian carrier has typically used to manage higher fuel costs. “What you need for that is strong underlying demand and relatively stable and rational capacity, and right now we are seeing that,” she said. “We’re seeing very strong leisure demand coming across both our domestic and our international markets.”<br/>