Cathay Pacific to Rehire Hundreds of Cabin Crew

DALLAS - Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) is to rehire hundreds of cabin crew members previously laid off or who resigned in preparation to expand its flight services.

In an email received by the South China Morning Post, the airline urged former employees who had specified they wanted to be contacted for future positions to send a priority application.

Cathay Pacific stated it would be employing pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, engineers, and other front-line employees to satisfy its operating demands, according to a spokesperson.

She stated that the company has been examining its employment requirements for the next 18 months to two years, due to the time required to educate new employees, and that it was preparing for "the anticipated recovery" in Hong Kong and worldwide aviation during this time.

“I’m pleased that as we look to resume our flight operations, it is the right time for us to begin rebuilding our team,” Jeanette Mao, the airline’s general manager overseeing in-flight service, said in the email which was sent on Tuesday.

Since the summer of last year, the Hong Kong flag carrier has been actively recruiting additional local pilots. It stated it had hired 200 new pilots, bringing the total number of pilots employed by the Cathay Pacific Group to 300.

In April, the carrier relaunched its cadet pilot program as part of a new partnership with Polytechnic University (PolyU), with the goal of educating over 280 local cadet pilots this year and over 1,000 by 2025.

A Rollercoaster for Airline Staff

In October 2020, the airline slashed a record 5,900 jobs when it shut down its regional airline Cathay Dragon and implemented a series of permanent and temporary labor layoffs in the first half of 2021, decreasing its workforce by another 2,500 people.

In April 2022, the carrier operated at around 2% of its pre-pandemic passenger capacity while cargo capacity was at 29% of pre-pandemic levels.

Authorities lifted many restrictions on May 1, including a three-day hotel quarantine period for passenger flight crews and a five-day aircraft route suspension mechanism if a flight carried infected passengers.

From June 2022, CX increased its flight schedule, adding daily flights to and from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and resuming or enhancing passenger flights to the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and India.

Featured image: Cathay Pacific B-HNQ 777-300 Seoul Incheon ICN. Photo: Christian Winter/Airways