Hong Kong Airlines offering temporary reduced salary to cabin crew to 'secure and safeguard jobs'

29 September, 2020

Hong Kong Airlines director of service delivery Chris Birt, in an internal memo, said the carrier is inviting cabin crew to sign up to have their salary reduced by 30% from Nov-2020 to Feb-2021 in order to "secure and safeguard jobs" and assist the airline's survival during the coronavirus pandemic (South China Morning Post, 25-Sep-2020). Cabin crew who sign up to the scheme would be on duty for two months and off for two months, with "fewer than 10 aircraft" operating. Mr Birt said: "Our current crew strength is far in excess of the number required to operate the planned flight schedule". 99.5% of Hong Kong Airlines' pilots signed up for a further round of unpaid leave, resulting in the salaries and allowances of captains and first officers being reduced by 60% for six months starting from 01-Oct-2020.