Cathay’s pilot exodus persists as pandemic curbs hit morale

One Cathay Pacific pilot had been with the airline for more than five years and planned a long career. But at the end of September, he quit the Hong Kong carrier, packed up his belongings and headed to Australia for a lower-paying job at a flying academy. Cathay and its long-suffering pilots have been big casualties of the pandemic, as severe job cuts and punishing Covid-19 restrictions have disrupted operations and hit profits. “I just needed a break from everything . . . I don’t want to work for Cathay anymore,” said the pilot, who asked not to be named. He added the constant Covid tests and restrictions had sapped his morale and left him tired and stressed. Working conditions were badly disrupted when Cathay sacked 8,500 people, almost a quarter of its staff, at the height of the pandemic in 2020. A flood of pilot resignations followed a year later because of anger over pay cuts of up to 60% and irritation with tough Covid-19 curbs. By the third quarter of this year, pilot headcount had slipped to a total of 2,412, according to an internal document seen by the Financial Times, down more than a quarter from 2019, with many of Cathay’s most senior staff — captains and first officers — among those having quit. Between 30 and 50 pilots are still resigning each month, according to the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, the pilots’ union. Much of the discontent has stemmed from “closed-loop” rosters, which involved completing multiple flights in stretches of up to four weeks without being allowed home, followed by mandatory hotel quarantines. This meant not seeing friends or family for up to seven weeks. In total, staff spent 73,000 nights in quarantine last year, the airline said.<br/>