Cathay Pacific to make further cuts to flights: internal memo
[SYDNEY] Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways will make further cuts to passenger capacity because of extremely low demand, leaving it with just two flights a week each to four long-haul destinations in April, according to an internal memo.
The airline carried only 582 passengers one day this week with a load factor of 18.3 per cent, which compares to 100,000 customers on a normal day, Cathay chief executive Augustus Tang said in a memo to staff seen by Reuters.
The carrier will maintain a skeleton long-haul network with two weekly passenger flights from Hong Kong to London, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Sydney, while hoping to keep three weekly regional flights to major destinations around Asia such as Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo.
It will also try to capitalise on stronger cargo demand, the memo said.
"However, the reduction of capacity on our wide body fleet means our cargo revenues are still well below last year," Mr Tang said.
Most Cathay employees already agreed to take three weeks of unpaid leave as part of an effort to cut costs.
GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Mr Tang said further unpaid leave in the form of temporary stand-downs and furloughs were occurring in some regions for ground employees where it had stopped flights or reduced capacity.
He will take a 30 per cent cut to his base salary from April to December, as will chairman Patrick Healy, with executive directors taking a 25 per cent cut, the memo said.
REUTERS
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Transport & Logistics
Toyota is investing US$1.4 billion to build another all-electric SUV in US
Airbus net profit soars 28% in first quarter
AirAsia discloses new listing plans under RM6.8 billion units merger
Baltimore’s trapped ships start leaving as new channel opens
S&P slashes Boeing credit outlook as rating hovers above junk status
Honda to spend US$11 billion on EV strategy in Canada