Cathay Pacific offers pilots bonuses for flying during Lunar New Year

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. is offering bonuses to pilots to fly during next month’s Lunar New Year period as the airline seeks to avoid canceling even more flights over the peak travel season.

Hong Kong’s largest airline, which has already cut an average of 12 flights a day through the end of February in order to ensure enough pilots are available, will offer a special flying allowance between Feb. 7 and 18, according to people familiar with the matter. Aircrew will be eligible for bonuses of 30%, 25% or 15% of their usual hourly flying rates, they said, asking not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

The offer is just the latest in a growing list of incentives Cathay has rolled out to tackle a chronic shortage of aircrew after Covid-related job losses gutted its ranks and pay cuts of more than 45% for some of those that remained sparked an exodus. The carrier is already facing intense criticism for canceling hundreds of flights over Christmas and New Year as a surge in illness and limits on annual flying hours compounded its pilot deficit.

“We are confident in our ability to operate our flights as planned,” Cathay Pacific said in an emailed statement.

Still, the short-term bonus will do little to address the longer-term issues Cathay faces in recruiting staff. The carrier’s flight volume is at around 70% of 2019 levels currently, and it aims to get back to normal by the end of this year.

“It’s a band-aid measure, not a solution,” Paul Weatherilt, chairman of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, said. “It’s an acknowledgment that even with a reduced Lunar New Year schedule compared to 2019, Cathay are still short of pilots.”