HONG KONG – Cathay Pacific is reducing its schedule by 12 flights a day on average until the end of February in an effort to avoid disruptions over the peak Chinese New Year travel period, the company said on Jan 7.

“We have taken measures to ensure Cathay Pacific’s flights will operate normally for the coming Chinese New Year travel peak,” chief executive Ronald Lam said in an e-mailed statement.

The Hong Kong carrier is pre-emptively adjusting its flight operations after cancelling several dozen flights over Christmas and New Year because of a shortage of pilots.

It said it had reviewed its flight schedule and increased the number of pilots on standby to avoid disruption in coming weeks.

It added that it is consolidating flights, focusing on routes with multiple daily flights.

The carrier, which said in November that it intended to recruit 5,000 more staff in 2024, had pruned its number of employees drastically in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and changed staff contract terms and conditions.

In December, the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, which represents some of the airline’s pilots, said Cathay’s passenger business had 58 per cent of the pilots it had before the pandemic.

In a November briefing to analysts, Cathay dropped a goal of rebuilding to pre-pandemic levels its cargo and passenger capacity by the end of 2024, giving no new date.

In October, passenger capacity was 62 per cent of 2019 levels, and cargo operations were at 79 per cent, the airline said. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS