Hong Kong Airlines preps for 'internal restructure' as it focuses on cargo

Hong Kong Airlines is reportedly preparing to cut hundreds of more jobs and will focus only on cargo operations. According to a new plan seen by the South China Morning Post, about 120 pilots are expected to be retained as they will be responsible for revenue generating cargo flights. The report said that according to a Hong Kong Airlines internal notice, the restructuring was necessary to help achieve a more effective organisation. Meanwhile, the impact on the number of retained flight attendants, ground and office staff, as well as associated businesses, is still unknown. 

Departments could be merged and job responsibilities could be consolidated too, subject to review by the staff's department head. 

In a statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a spokesperson said that to ensure that Hong Kong Airlines is in a better position to operate in the challenging years ahead, an internal restructure is deemed necessary to help the company achieve a leaner and more efficient organisation. No comment was shared regarding the impact on the marketing teams. More details are however said to be communicated to Hong Kong employees in the coming days, the spokesperson shared. 

This is not the first round of job cuts within Hong Kong Airlines. In December last year, the airline cut 250 flight attendant jobs after reducing a total of 400 positions across various departments in February 2020. 

Apart from job cuts, the airline is also reportedly planning to ground its fleet of Airbus A320s to focus on cargo operations. It will deploy eight of its 21 Airbus A330s on cargo routes. After the restructure, the airline will be operating a fleet 80% smaller than before the pandemic began. 

The post cited a notice, saying that the cost-saving measures it adopted were not sustainable in the long run, as the orgransation was too large to support a smaller operation. 

Once positioned itself as a rival for Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Airlines has been struggling financially even before the pandemic as last year’s challenges placed additional stress on the airline. In late 2019, the Transport and Housing Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR government, in conjunction with the Civil Aviation Department, met with the airline's management team and concluded that the airline had to take measures to protect the interests of passengers and staff.

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