Cathay Pacific Airways expects to report a larger-than-forecast loss in 2022 — around double what analysts were looking for — as the carrier claws its way back from Covid-19. Hong Kong’s main airline said in an exchange filing Friday that it expects to report an annual net loss of between HK$6.4b ($817m) to HK$7b, significantly larger than the HK$3.4b deficit the market was expecting. Cathay lost HK$5.5b in 2021. Although the group’s performance in the second half was a “marked improvement” over the first, losses from associates like Air China Ltd. pushed Cathay further into the red. Air China, 18.1% owned by Cathay, racked up 28b yuan ($4.1b) in losses in the first nine months of last year, its widest-ever deficit as China doubled down on Covid restrictions. Sounding more optimistic about the core airline’s performance, Ronald Lam, Cathay’s newly installed CEO, said he was “very encouraged to see a trend of continuous improvement in our operations and financial performance in the second half.” Lam pointed to travel relaxations enabling Cathay to generate positive cash flow in the six months ended Dec. 31. Cathay has started to benefit from the long awaited lifting of pandemic measures in Hong Kong and mainland China, its biggest market outside of the financial hub. The airline earlier projected group passenger capacity, which includes budget unit HK Express, will return to 70% of pre-Covid levels by the end of the year.<br/>
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The cabin crew union of Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways has warned that it will launch industrial action from Thursday to demand improvements in roster and manpower arrangements. The Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union on Monday evening announced that it would commence its work-to-rule campaign, meaning its members should strictly follow the airline’s policies and standards, including refusal to work on days off. It said the management had failed to reach a consensus with the union on workers’ concerns and meet them on Tuesday as requested. The union published the “golden rules” of the campaign on Facebook, stating that their actions should be enforced at all ports and members must all be tolerant with each other on the repercussions caused by the drive. It added: “Everybody must carry out the work-to-rule together and must not try to discourage anyone.”The union also plans to stage a rally on Wednesday afternoon, which, if approved by police, will become the first high-profile public gathering given the go-ahead by the force in recent years, after many large-scale assemblies or protests were banned in the aftermath of the 2019 social unrest and later amid the Covid-19 pandemic. With plans to hold the rally outside the airline’s headquarters, the union on Monday told the Post the company had rejected the proposal. Cathay assured customers its services would not be affected by the campaign or the protest. “Cathay Pacific can assure our customers that our flight services will continue as scheduled and there is no need for concern,” the airline said.<br/>
A Qantas Airways Ltd. flight to Sydney returned to Melbourne with potential engine trouble, the airline’s third consecutive day of mid-air mechanical issues following a mayday alert by a plane en route from Auckland. The pilots of flight QF430 on Friday received an indication of a minor engine problem and turned back to Melbourne as a precaution, Qantas said in a statement. The aircraft landed normally and both engines remained operational throughout the flight, the airline said. The incident follows the return to Sydney yesterday of a Qantas flight to Fiji that had indicated a potential mechanical problem. The previous day, a Qantas jet on its way to Sydney from Auckland signaled an emergency and shut down one of its engines. The aircraft landed safely at Sydney and all 145 passengers disembarked normally. All three planes were Boeing 737s, the workhorse of the carrier’s Australian fleet. The timing of the incidents gives ammunition to Qantas critics who argue the airline’s planes are too old — some have been in service for about 20 years — and claim CEO Alan Joyce cut costs too deeply during the pandemic. Qantas is renewing its domestic fleet over the next decade. At the same time, the precautions taken by the pilots also highlight a safety culture that has meant Qantas has never had a fatal jet airliner accident. Engine shutdowns are rare, but pilots are trained to manage them safely and Boeing 737s can fly on one engine.<br/>