Pilots operating services of five hours or less, for example, will get 30 per cent of their hourly flying rate, while those on flights of up to 8½ hours will receive 25 per cent. The rate for flights longer than 8½ hours will drop to 15 per cent.

The hourly flying rate for pilots who have reached their minimum flying hours per month, ranges from several hundred dollars to around HK$3,000 (US$384) at the top end of the seniority rank

A Cathay pilot’s pay comprises basic salary, allowances and productivity pay.

In a statement to the Post, the airline said it was confident in its ability to operate flights as planned.

“We have taken a range of special measures to help ensure that our customers’ journeys go smoothly, including significantly increasing our available pilot reserve levels,” a spokesman said.

The chairman of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, which represents Cathay pilots, called the measure “a Band-Aid measure, not a solution”.

“It’s an acknowledgement that even with a reduced Lunar New Year schedule they are still short of pilots,” Paul Weatherilt said.

He estimated that special allowance over Lunar New Year, if spread out over the year, accounted for about a 1 per cent pay increase.

The bonus would apply to all pilots who fly over the period.

“In the short term, the fire they are trying to put out is to make sure flights are not cancelled over Lunar New Year … it will go a little way towards making sure people show up for work over the period,” he said.

But Weatherilt said he did not think the bonus addressed the root cause of the talent drain of pilots, who were unhappy with the overall contract and rostering system.

How are customers of Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific coping with flight disruptions?

A senior pilot told the Post he did not believe pilots would be incentivised by this “temporary initiative”, adding other organisations offered double hourly rates during such periods.

“What pilots really want is for a transparent rostering system not manipulated by management … to the total detriment of any lifestyle and rest concerns of pilots,” he said.

But Andrew Yuen Chi-lok, a senior lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Aviation Policy and Research Centre, said he believed the special flying allowance “demonstrated the effort of Cathay Pacific to improve the remuneration,” which in turn could improve pilots’ morale.

CEO of Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific apologises for wave of flight cancellations

On January 7, the airline said it would axe a dozen flights a day on average until the end of February to avoid disruptions during the busy Lunar New Year holiday.

The move came on the heels of about 70 cancellations during the Christmas and New Year holidays, which Cathay attributed to “higher-than-expected pilot absences caused by seasonal illness”.

But in a memo dated December 30 and seen by the Post, the carrier also acknowledged that many pilots had reached or were close to hitting their limit of 900 flying hours during a rolling 12-month period.

The company is suffering from a shortage of experienced pilots following pandemic-related lay-offs and pay cuts to remaining crew, which resulted in hundreds resigning.

The association said the number of captains and first officers for passenger flights stood at just 52 per cent of 2019 levels.

Last week, the company announced measures to boost pilot morale, including increasing a cap on school allowances and committing to not increasing the mechanism for the annual target of flying hours – used to fix hourly rates of pay – this year or in 2025.