Cathay Pacific to sack nearly 300 cabin crew in US, calling bases in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles ‘no long viable’
Cathay Pacific is to sack almost 300 of its staff in the US and close its cabin crew bases in the biggest cutback of employees made by the airline during the coronavirus pandemic.
The airline told staff on Friday that it had to make tough decisions amid the worsening economic impact and employing flight attendants based in the United States was “no longer viable”, according to a memo seen by the Post.
Cathay has virtually grounded all passenger services, operating 3 per cent of its schedule in April and May, with just two flights a week to Los Angeles instead of the around 120 flights weekly.
“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic which has virtually halted global travel, Cathay Pacific has made the difficult decision to close its US cabin crew bases,” an airline spokeswoman said.
The move affects 286 staff working across bases in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and follows the closure of its Vancouver base in March, affecting 147 jobs, and Toronto the previous year when another 120 people lost their jobs.
“We are devastated,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents Cathay crews in the US. “These flight attendants are cherished members of our union.
“We will be working to achieve severance and continued health care for as long as possible. And we will work to support them in every way we can.”
In total, Cathay Pacific employs about 13,000 flight attendants. Outside Hong Kong, it has overseas bases employing cabin crew in London, Bangkok and Singapore.
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3080356/cathay-pacific-sack-nearly-300-cabin-crew-us