#FailedState
Hong Kong quarantine pushes Cathay pilots to 'breaking point'
//#CathayPacific has been hit by a wave of pilot resignations in recent weeks as resentment over Hong Kong's strict quarantine regime boils over and crew scramble for emerging opportunities overseas.
The departures come as Hong Kong ties itself to Beijing's closed-border zero-Covid strategy - a move that has kept the city coronavirus-free but internationally isolated.
Hong Kong's leaders say normalising travel with China must come before the rest of the world, a strategy that has caused growing alarm within multinationals in a finance hub that dubs itself "Asia's World City".
AFP interviewed four Cathay pilots who requested anonymity. Each said they knew more than a dozen colleagues who had resigned in the last few weeks.
Pilots fear Hong Kong's future as one of Asia's busiest transport hubs is now at risk.
"Once airlines move infrastructure like technicians, ground crew and pilots out of Hong Kong to places like Seoul and Bangkok, trust me, they're not coming back," one pilot said.
One pilot who flies commercial said he had been unable to see his family overseas for more than 20 months because of the quarantine restrictions and his need to stay flying to top up his depleted salary.
He said he felt Hong Kong's leaders have abandoned the idea of the city being an international hub at the request of "our overlords to the north" - a reference to Beijing.
"I love Hong Kong but if we're not going to plan our way out of this with a roadmap the question becomes what am I doing here?" he said.
"I can't take another year of this."//
Image: Stand News
Source: AFP; Straits Times #Dec2
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hong-kong-quarantine-pushes-cathay-pilots-to-breaking-point
#Beijing #Covid19 #Pandemic #Quarantine #Pilot #Resignation
Hong Kong quarantine pushes Cathay pilots to 'breaking point'
//#CathayPacific has been hit by a wave of pilot resignations in recent weeks as resentment over Hong Kong's strict quarantine regime boils over and crew scramble for emerging opportunities overseas.
The departures come as Hong Kong ties itself to Beijing's closed-border zero-Covid strategy - a move that has kept the city coronavirus-free but internationally isolated.
Hong Kong's leaders say normalising travel with China must come before the rest of the world, a strategy that has caused growing alarm within multinationals in a finance hub that dubs itself "Asia's World City".
AFP interviewed four Cathay pilots who requested anonymity. Each said they knew more than a dozen colleagues who had resigned in the last few weeks.
Pilots fear Hong Kong's future as one of Asia's busiest transport hubs is now at risk.
"Once airlines move infrastructure like technicians, ground crew and pilots out of Hong Kong to places like Seoul and Bangkok, trust me, they're not coming back," one pilot said.
One pilot who flies commercial said he had been unable to see his family overseas for more than 20 months because of the quarantine restrictions and his need to stay flying to top up his depleted salary.
He said he felt Hong Kong's leaders have abandoned the idea of the city being an international hub at the request of "our overlords to the north" - a reference to Beijing.
"I love Hong Kong but if we're not going to plan our way out of this with a roadmap the question becomes what am I doing here?" he said.
"I can't take another year of this."//
Image: Stand News
Source: AFP; Straits Times #Dec2
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hong-kong-quarantine-pushes-cathay-pilots-to-breaking-point
#Beijing #Covid19 #Pandemic #Quarantine #Pilot #Resignation
The Straits Times
Hong Kong quarantine pushes Cathay pilots to 'breaking point'
One cargo pilot said he planned to resign "within six months" and look for employment overseas.
Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more at straitstimes.com.