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Airline coronavirus chaos: HK Airlines slashes 400 jobs as Cathay Dragon staff fail to reach strike consensus

Airline coronavirus chaos: HK Airlines slashes 400 jobs as Cathay Dragon staff fail to reach strike consensus

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Staff at two of Hong Kong's airlines have been facing some hard choices in reaction to the knock-on effects of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

Hong Kong Airlines has announced a plan to cut 400 staff and pull back its operations as travel demand continues to sputter due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Reuters cited the airline's spokesman comments that the airline needed to take further action to stay afloat saying, "[as] uncertainty looms with the evolving nature of this global issue, weak travel demand will likely continue into the summer season."

Hong Kong Airlines also said it would require its Hong Kong-based ground staff to take a minimum of two weeks unpaid leave per month or switch to working three days a week from 17 February onwards until 30 June.

Meanwhile, flight attendants at Cathay Dragon are continuing to urge the company to suspend flights between Hong Kong and China. They had been considering a strike to press their demands but during the weekend but failed to reach a consensus over the action, meaning that Cathay Dragon's services - save for its currently suspended routes - are expected to resume.

In a statement, Cathay Dragon said, "We acknowledge that the vote by the union members to support a strike was unsuccessful. Cathay Dragon is currently operating its flight services as scheduled and does not anticipate any impact to its operation."

It elaborated, "In these challenging times, as much as at any other time, we believe we have a responsibility as an airline to continue offering vital connections between Hong Kong and the rest of the world. For this reason, we are maintaining a small number of carefully managed Cathay Dragon services to mainland China."


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