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Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific confirms 600 staff to go amid major restructure

Sources say extra 200 workers to be axed in near future

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Cathay Pacific is set to cut 600 jobs. Photo: AFP

Cathay Pacific Airways confirmed on Monday morning it will shed almost 600 staff from its head office, in the biggest round of job cuts by Hong Kong’s flagship carrier in 20 years.

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The airline said most of its restructuring will be finished by 2017, citing changing customer habits and a “challenging business environment” as causes.

Employees were informed on Monday that, as had already been reported in the Post, 190 management jobs would go immediately. A further 400 non-management staff will be cut by mid-June.

Those numbers account for 25 per cent of management staff and 18 per cent of non-management.

Frontline jobs, including pilots and cabin crew, will be spared. Sources familiar with the redundancies said the losses would eventually hit 800 employees, with 200 more than already announced to be culled from junior ranks.

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The cuts are the first step in a three-year programme announced earlier this year aimed at turning around losses at the airline. They also mark the first major task overseen by new chief executive Rupert Hogg, who replaced Ivan Chu Kwok-leung earlier this month.
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