Cathay Pacific has come under fire from staff and passengers alike after reducing the number of pilots from four to three on long haul flights between Hong Kong and Europe.
This new system will begin its trial stages on one particular route early next year, but both pilots and passengers have expressed concerns about the effects that the increased workload could have on flight safety. One unnamed pilot told Oriental Daily that, were he to experience fatigue during the testing period, he would rather take a sick day than endanger his crew and passengers.
He sounds like a standup guy.
The change is part of a new rostering system introduced earlier this year, which stalled negotiations between Cathay and the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association (HKAOA). HKAOA described the offer as “inadequate” and “lower than current rostering standards”.
The pre-existing Rostering Practices Agreement had been a major point of dispute, as pilots had complained of fatigue after being called out to work on their rostered days off.
By law, pilots are entitled to a minimum of 34 continuous hours (including two nights at their home base) free from operating a flight, which is known as a “domestic day off”, or DDO. Rosters are drafted in compliance with the Civil Aviation Department’s regulations on avoidance of fatigue in flight crews.
However, pilots have increasingly complained that the company will convert their DDOs to “standby” or “duty” with just 12 hours notice, resulting in what Cathay’s Director of Flight Operations Anna Thompson acknowledged as a “decrease in roster stability.”
Last week, the SCMP reported that Cathay received nearly 1,100 reports of fatigue from their pilots in 2014, up 38 percent from 2013.
Last month, a letter addressed to Anna Thompson and signed by 100 check and training Cathay pilots was published in full in the SCMP. It detailed the pilots’ dissatisfaction at the termination of their Rostering Practices Agreement, and their concerns about how the new proposal will affect crew safety, and “by extension, flight safety”. Although the letter was not sent on behalf of the HKAOA, reports state that the union held talks with Cathay in regards to the new rostering practices, but did not reach a consensus.
The past year has been tumultuous for Cathay Pacific, with the company embroiled in multiple disputes over pay and rostering. In September last year, Cathay offered pilots a four percent rise for 2014, then three percent rises for 2015 and 2016 respectively.
As a result, more than 2,000 union pilots took contract compliance action, or “working to rule” – essentially working the minimum hours stipulated in their contracts, and refusing to work on DDOs. After six months of this “industrial action” which resulted in flight delays and last-minute cancellations, SCMP reported that Cathay offered its pilots a wage rise of eight percent over two years, however this was not confirmed by HKAOA or Cathay.
Cathay’s cabin crew have also taken to protesting against what they say are unfair cuts to salaries and perks, resulting in a two-day sit in at Chek Lap Kok airport earlier this year, and another sit in at the company headquarters.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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