CATHAY Pacific Airways is offering bonuses to pilots to fly during next month’s Chinese New Year period as the airline seeks to avoid canceling even more flights over the peak travel season.

Hong Kong’s largest airline, which has already cut an average of 12 flights a day through the end of February in order to ensure enough pilots are available, will offer a special flying allowance between Feb 7 and 18, according to people familiar with the matter.

Aircrew will be eligible for bonuses of 30 per cent, 25 per cent or 15 per cent of their usual hourly flying rates, they said, asking not to be identified because they’re not authorised to speak publicly.

The offer is just the latest in a growing list of incentives Cathay has rolled out to tackle a chronic shortage of aircrew after Covid-related job losses gutted its ranks and pay cuts of more than 45 per cent for some of those that remained sparked an exodus. The company is already facing intense criticism for canceling hundreds of flights over Christmas and New Year as a surge in illness and limits on annual flying hours compounded its pilot deficit.

A spokesperson for Cathay Pacific comment did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Still, the short-term bonus will do little to address the longer-term issues Cathay faces in recruiting staff. The carrier’s flight volume is at around 70 per cent of 2019 levels currently, and it aims to get back to normal by the end of this year.

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“It’s a band-aid measure, not a solution,” Paul Weatherilt, chairman of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, said. “It’s an acknowledgment that even with a reduced Lunar New Year schedule compared to 2019, Cathay are still short of pilots.” BLOOMBERG