The CEO noted the company lost HK$34 billion (US$4.3 billion) during the three years that Covid-19 crippled the travel industry.

“The best [way of returning the favour] is to restore our services as soon as possible and invest in the future,” he told lawmakers, pointing to the purchase of 70 planes for passenger flights and cargo. “In the future, we need to be prudent with our expenditure … We need to make investments to consolidate Hong Kong’s status as an aviation hub.”

Lam said Cathay’s profits would partly be used to repay the government, “which I know is taxpayers’ money”.

The government provided a multibillion-dollar bailout to help the company survive the pandemic in 2020. Preference shares worth HK$19.5 billion were issued to the government as part of the recapitalisation deal.

Cathay bought back half of the shares for HK$9.75 billion last December and said it planned to acquire the remainder by the end of July.

Observers have predicted Legco panels will take a more aggressive approach when scrutinising companies and the government itself as they seek to fulfil their role of watchdog despite having a “patriots-only” chamber. Legco was overhauled in 2021 to ensure only “patriots” could become lawmakers, effectively leaving it without any opposition.

Legislators’ own performance came under the spotlight last year after a report found at least two-thirds of bills were passed in the previous year with under half of all lawmakers present, falling short of the 45-member quorum requirement.

At Friday’s session, Cathay director for customer travel Erica Peng did not say whether the company would reduce ticket prices. She added that airfares would “normalise” in the coming year as an increase in the supply of flights would reduce the shortfall.

Cathay recently came under fire from the government and the public after it cancelled 786 flights between December last year and February – more than 4 per cent of its total operations.

Lawmakers on Friday blasted the airline for its worsening service, calling on the company to greatly improve what they described as “chaotic” management.

“There has been a chaotic situation at Cathay, not only about its flight cancellations, but also its dissemination of information … These things have affected how travellers can conduct business in Hong Kong,” said Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung, a legislator and member of the key decision-making Executive Council.

“I really want to know how Cathay can improve its service, which has indeed been worsening over the past few years.”

Hong Kong government hits out at Cathay over 786 flight cancellations in 2 months

Legislator Michael Tien Puk-sun, a former chairman of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, questioned why the airline had failed to raise alarm bells over its manpower shortfall.

“Why didn’t you sound an alarm in September, October and November?” he asked. “Instead, you choose to wait until the last 48 hours before you cancelled flights in January. This is ridiculous.”

Cathay earlier attributed the cancellations to factors such as internal planning failures and an underestimation of pilot reserve levels. It highlighted an “unanticipated and sustained increase” in pilot absences because of seasonal illness and the high number of flights over the 2023 holiday season.

Many pilots were also in line to exceed the maximum 900-hour flying limit over 12 months and could not cover for absent colleagues, it had noted, while also promising to work to prevent disruptions during the Easter holiday period.

At the Legco meeting, Cathay chief operations and service delivery officer Alex McGowan again drew attention to the number of pilots calling in sick in December, saying it had forced the company to cancel flights with fewer passengers.

“In mid-December, there were 10 new calls a day, which soon grew to 20 calls a day, but we could cover it,” he said.

Management received 27 calls on December 26, forcing the company to make a “proactive firebreak”, McGowan noted.

The Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association earlier said it was offensive the airline was trying to blame pilots and it was “extraordinary” the effects of the 900-hour limit on the number of flights Cathay could operate should come as a surprise to management.

“The reason pilots are up against a 900-hour limit is because the airline has not got enough pilots,” Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association chairman Paul Weatherilt said earlier.

CEO Lam said the airline needed another 500 pilots this year to meet its target of reaching 100 per cent pre-pandemic capacity in the first quarter of 2025. The new hires will increase the number of pilots to 3,400, which was still below the pre-pandemic level of 3,800.

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific to reinstate service to Saudi Arabia

Cathay hired 461 trainee pilots last year, recruited from the city and across the border, he said.

McGowan said 270 former pilots had also chosen to rejoin the airline, including 151 from the now-defunct Cathay Dragon. Some former first officers from the subsidiary were now serving as Cathay captains, he added.

The company last week said it had learned a lesson from the flight cancellations and pushed back its target for restoration of pre-pandemic capacity to early 2025.

It also revealed plans on Thursday to relaunch flights between Hong Kong and Riyadh in the fourth quarter of the year, as the government pursues stronger trade and investment links with Saudi Arabia.