Hong Kong government hits out at Cathay Pacific over nearly 800 flight cancellations in 2 months, but carrier vows smooth Easter service

Coordination among departments responsible for service planning and crew availability inadequate, Civil Aviation Department says
In report to department, Cathay says pilot roster planning ‘root cause’ of cancellations

Hong Kong economy

Lo Hoi-ying

Published: 2:26pm, 18 Mar 2024

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Hong Kong’s aviation authority has criticised Cathay Pacific Airways for poor crew planning after the city’s flag carrier cancelled nearly 800 flights in two months, but the airline has vowed to ensure operations are smooth over the Easter holiday travel rush.

The Civil Aviation Department submitted a paper to the Legislative Council on Monday showing that 786 passenger flights were cancelled between December 28 last year and February 29. About 11 out of 250 flights were scrapped on average each day, or 4 per cent of total operations.

The department said the carrier’s planning team lacked the experience and digital capabilities to sufficiently forecast required crew resources, after scrutinising a report submitted by Cathay over the flight disruptions.

The airline has said the pilot roster planning was the “root cause” of the flight cancellations. Photo: Eugene Lee

“Coordination among departments responsible for service planning and crew availability was also inadequate,” the paper said. “The incident gives rise to concern about the capacity resumption of [Cathay] and, further to that, the recovery of Hong Kong International Airport.”

Cathay CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por said last week the company had pushed back its timeline for restoring passenger flight capacity to pre-pandemic levels from the end of 2024 to the first quarter of next year.

Cancellations over Christmas and Lunar New Year drew the ire of travellers who encountered difficulties in rebooking flights as pilots lamented what they called messy roster arrangements.

In its report to the department, Cathay said the cancellations over the past two months were caused by several factors, including internal planning issues and underestimation of pilot reserve levels. But pilot roster planning was the “root cause”, it said.

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Cathay pointed to an “unanticipated and sustained increase” in pilot absences due to seasonal illness and the high number of flights over the 2023 holiday season, adding the shortfall spilled over into the new year and caused a second round of cancellations.

Many pilots were also set to exceed the maximum 900 flying hour-limit extending over 12 months and could not cover for their absent colleagues, the airline said. While it was “fully aware” of the hour cap to protect against fatigue, Cathay said the limit had not been a “significant impediment to the operation” and thus “was not tracked to the level of detail that has now become necessary”.

The chairman of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association said he found it offensive the airline was trying to blame pilots, adding the 900-hour limit was unrelated to cockpit crew falling ill.

“It is extraordinary that this limit should come as a surprise to airline managers … [that this] limit might also limit the number of flights they can operate,” Paul Weatherilt said. “The reason pilots are up against a 900-hour limit is because the airline has not got enough pilots.”

He added Cathay made no cancellations over Lunar New Year because flight capacity was already reduced, which was also the case for the coming Easter holiday.

The association estimated it would take years to train enough new pilots, as it slammed the airline for slashing pay and failing to retain existing cockpit crew.

Cathay Pacific says the flight cancellations were caused by underestimation of pilot reserve levels, among other factors. Photo: Dickson Lee

Lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun called the cancellations unacceptable and said they deeply affected Hong Kong’s status as an aviation hub, as well as the airline’s image.

“The issue is they sold tickets for January 2024 one year ago when borders were just reopening, and wrongly estimated their capacity,” he said. “The timing of when they announce the cancellations is key. They could have announced them in August or September when they realised the manpower issue and not 48 hours only before the flight. People would be less angry.”

He also refuted the airline’s claim the cancellations were due to an increase in flu cases among pilots, saying the illness affected the city the same way every year.

Cathay said in the report that it suspended training to free up cockpit crew and ensured that the level of reserve pilots for the Lunar New Year period exceeded the normal by a large margin.

The airline also mapped the 900-hour limit into crew planning processes and added buffers to the rostering system to reduce the number of pilots hitting the maximum flying hours.

The department noted that the airline did not cancel any flights during the Lunar New Year peak travel period.

“[Cathay] has assured that there will be no similar flight cancellations during the coming Easter travel peak,” the department said.

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“In fact, [Cathay] has further reassured the government and the public that it will make its best endeavours to ensure there will be no similar flight cancellation in the future.”

At the peak of the flight disruptions in January, Cathay said it would cut an average of 12 flights a day until the end of February in a bid to avoid cancellations during the Lunar New Year holiday – one of the busiest travel periods in China.

Cathay chief operations and service delivery officer Alex McGowan apologised to customers, while city leader John Lee Ka-chiu called on the airline to set up a task force to investigate the matter.

Affected routes included Singapore, Dubai, Beijing, Seoul, Bangkok and Vancouver.

Legco’s panel on economic development is expected to further discuss the matter on Friday.