Cathay Pacific cancels some year-end flights over pilot illness

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. canceled some year-end flights as a precaution after illness depleted its pilot ranks already diminished in the aftermath of Covid. A “small number” of flights are affected, the airline said late Thursday in a statement. Cathay said it “experienced higher than anticipated pilot absence caused by seasonal illness” on some days this month. Cathay is axing 14 passenger flights on Friday, or around 11% of Hong Kong departures, according to airport data from Webb-Site.com. Services affected include Sydney, Delhi, Taipei, Shanghai and Singapore. Total cancelations since mid-December amounted to less than 1% of all passenger flights, the airline said. Flight scheduling data analyzed by Bloomberg shows a rise in cancelations since Christmas Eve affecting key routes like London Heathrow and Sydney. Cathay is contending with a broader shortfall of pilots after eliminating thousands of jobs at the height of the Covid pandemic and cutting salaries of those who remained by as much as 50%. Pilot staff now stands at 2,532, according to data from the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, a 35% drop from the end of 2019.<br/>