Cathay makes pay offer to pilots: company

December 21, 2010 | 09:34

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Cathay Pacific and its pilots union have reached a tentative pay deal, a company spokeswoman said Monday, averting possible labour action over the busy holiday period.

The Hong Kong-based carrier's pilots must still vote in favour of the deal which union negotiators endorsed after negotiations last week.

"The talks were professional and courteous with some understandable differences in perception but we did get to a point where it was feasible to place an offer on the table," the company spokeswoman told AFP.

John Findlay, head of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, told AFP that the new pay deal, if approved, would apply to all of the airline's 2,400 pilots, including 1,850 union members.

Voting would likely take place over the next few weeks, he said.

"Clearly we don't want this sitting around forever," Findlay added.

Neither the company nor the union would comment on details of the offer, which local media have said was lower than what the pilots demanded.

The labour campaign would have seen pilots refuse to work beyond their scheduled shifts, leading to possible flight delays, reports said.

The union had been demanding a 30 per cent pay raise over four years, reports also said.

Cathay pilots make between 33,000 and 144,000 Hong Kong dollars ($4,200 and $18,500) a month depending on seniority, while foreign-hired staff also receive school-fee allowances and a housing subsidy as high as 60,000 Hong Kong dollars a month, the South China Morning Post has reported.

In November, Cathay said it expected to nearly triple its full-year profit to 12.5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.6 billion) as it bounces back from the global financial crisis.

AFP

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