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Cathay Pacific
Hong KongTransport

Cathay Pacific cuts pay rises for staff to 2 per cent, gives one-off sum of up to US$3,800 in place of year-end bonuses

  • Cathay will give the bulk of its 27,000 staff a year-end payment of HK$30,000, or one month’s salary, whichever is lower, the CEO says
  • The reduced end-of-year payments come as the city’s flagship airline reels from the impact of Hong Kong’s anti-government protests

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Cathay Pacific plans to fly fewer flights as demand for its flights wanes due to the impact of Hong Kong’s civil unrest. Photo: Edward Wong
Danny Lee
Cathay Pacific on Wednesday said it has scrapped year-end bonuses for staff this year, as it counts the costs of the anti-government protests in Hong Kong that have scared away millions of visitors and plunged the city into a recession.

The bulk of the company’s 27,000 airline staff will receive a year-end payment of HK$30,000 (US$3,800), or one month’s salary, whichever is lower, CEO Augustus Tang Kin-wing announced in a memo to staff.

“I recognise the disappointment of not being paid a Discretionary Year-End Bonus and hope the ex-gratia payment represents a token of our goodwill and appreciation,” Tang said. “I know people are pulling together and supporting each other through what has been a very turbulent period.”

Staff will next year receive a pay rise of 2 per cent, down from the wage increases of between 3 and 8 per cent paid to some 14,600 workers last year. Hong Kong’s rate of inflation stood at 3.1 per cent in October.

Between August and October, passenger traffic at Hong Kong airport had fallen 2.3 million compared with the same period last year. Photo: Bloomberg
Between August and October, passenger traffic at Hong Kong airport had fallen 2.3 million compared with the same period last year. Photo: Bloomberg

Cathay Pacific, fresh from issuing two profit warnings, plans to fly fewer flights as demand for its flights wanes due to the impact of the civil unrest in Hong Kong, which was triggered six months ago by the now-withdrawn extradition bill.

The airline’s Flight Attendants Union, which has members who found out they no longer had jobs after posting social media message in support of the anti-government protests, said it accepted the lower-than-expected annual settlement.

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