Rabbit takes centre stage

news
features
who, what, where
travel
The world in
80 days
Shanghai’s
winning idea
Sporting
achievement
Stress-free
living
Excitement as S&R
finals decided
Relaxing on the
sand at Pelee Island
Cargo innovation
wins We Suggest!
Unique travel prize
up for grabs
Page 2
Page 8
Page 14
Page 16
A magazine for staff and friends of Cathay Pacific Airways
February 2011, Issue 179
PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED PAPER
Class act gets ready
for launch
Sydney-bound passengers first to enjoy
new Business Class experience
There will be a lot of attention focused on flight
CX101 to Sydney on 1 March as Cathay Pacific’s
new Business Class seats carry paying passengers
for the first time.
The seats are already installed on the airline’s
latest A330-300, and a group of VIPs will get the
chance to try them out on the delivery flight from
Toulouse on 26 February.
Meanwhile, various teams have been getting
ready for the launch of the new cabin, covering
everything from certification and training to the
marketing of a product that Cathay Pacific hopes
will set a new benchmark for premium travel.
From March, customers will be able to visit a
dedicated website (pictured right) highlighting
the new product, while updated iPhone and iPad
applications will have special product previews.
“The site will contain a straightforward guide to
the seat together with interesting 3-D animations
to introduce various seat features and a number
of interactive elements for visitors to explore,” says
Marketing Manager Grace Cheung.
A printed seat guide has been prepared for the
delivery flight to introduce passengers to the new
seat, and this will be made available on board for
the first few months after the new product enters
service.
Marketing is also producing leaflets for distribution in outports, particularly the launch destinations for the product, and a full-scale campaign
with print and television ads to promote the new
Business Class will kick-start in April.
In Engineering, Manager Cabin Engineering Diamond Ho and his team have been working with
seat manufacturer Sicma for the past 18 months to
ensure the new product passed a rigorous manufacturing and testing process.
• Continued on page 4
Rabbit takes centre stage
The Year of the Rabbit received a lively
welcome from the thousands who lined
the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui to watch the
Cathay Pacific International Chinese
New Year Night Parade on 3 February.
For the 13th consecutive year, the CX
float, accompanied by dancers and 30
uniform staff, led the spectacular parade
which featured 36 floats and performing
troupes from all over the world.
• See pages 8-9
SAND AND SNOW:
Children in Bahrain enjoyed the
novel experience
of playing with snow
after the CX Japan
team took on the challenge of shipping a snowman to
the desert country. The project was
led by Panasonic to demonstrate
its innovative insulation technology
– U-Vacua – which helped keep the
snowman icy cold during the
40-hour journey from Narita.
Message
from the
Chief Executive
80-day adventure
Unique travel experience up for grabs in CX social media campaign
We are just six weeks into 2011 but
already it’s shaping up to be another exciting year for our airline.
Business has got off to a reasonably robust start, and on 9 March
we’ll be announcing annual results
that will show just how well we did
last year.
Before that we will see another
landmark event for Cathay Pacific – the entry into service of
our new Business Class product.
On 1 March our latest A330-300
will fly from Hong Kong to Sydney
with the new cabin in place, and
we’ll start to see for sure how well
our hard work and innovative approach to looking our premium
passengers has paid off.
When we unveiled the new
product in December we already
felt confident that we had come
up with a winner. We took a very
close look at every aspect of what
Business Class passengers expect
on a long-haul flight – from the
seat and storage space, to the
entertainment, working environment and even the artwork on
the walls. Combined with the superb service offered by our cabin
crew we believe we are about to
set a new benchmark for business
travel.
Other important work on the
product side includes the development of our lounge portfolio
at Hong Kong International Airport. We opened The Cabin to
widespread acclaim in October
and work is ongoing to renovate
our signature lounge, The Wing.
It was very pleasing to have the
influential guidebook publisher
Frommers name The Wing as the
world’s best lounge recently, and
I’m confident that we’ll win many
more plaudits once the renovation is completed later in 2012.
We’re well into the Lunar New
Year now and it was pleasing to
see the Year of the Rabbit get off to
a good start. On the business side,
it was not as busy as the 2010 CNY
in terms of passenger numbers,
but it was good to see a considerable improvement in the quality
of traffic carried. It was of course
a very busy time for our teams on
the ground and in the air. I’d like to
thank everyone for a great effort
and let’s hope the momentum
continues throughout 2011!
Tony Tyler, Chief Executive
2
Travelling non-stop around the
world for 80 days, enjoying and experiencing different cultures along
the way, is a dream for many – and
one Cathay Pacific will make come
true for one lucky person.
The enticingly teasing question “where
in the world would
you go in 80 days?”
appeared on the CX
Facebook page on 24
January with details
of a competition
giving the winner
non-stop travel on
the CX network.
Within hours
the “Travel the
World in 80 Days”
competition attracted dozens of
comments
from
fans and more
than 500 entries in
48 hours by eager
would-be world travellers.
“The competition is
being run entirely via
Facebook and other social media,” says Online
Marketing Manager Ali
Bullock.
“With so much competition out
there, to make a splash and build a
buzz about our social media pres■
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ence, we really needed an amazing
contest,” he adds.
Participants are asked to submit
a photo, video or story online until
6 March outlining what they would
do if they won.
“We are looking for someone who will
really enjoy getting this opportunity and grabbing all they can
out of the experience,” Ali says.
“The prize will
change their life
so we really want
them to see as
much as possible
over the 80 days,” he
adds.
Eight finalists will
be flown to Hong
Kong in mid-April
for an interview
and a day-long
test which will
involve tweeting
about the experience and uploading photos
which capture
the essence of Hong Kong.
“It’s a great prize so we don’t want
it to be a lucky draw – they have to
earn it!” Ali says.
The winner will receive round-trip
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GLOBAL INSPIRATION: Hopeful applicants have already submitted dozens
of innovative videos (examples left) outlining worldwide travel dreams.
blog updates to keep fans updated.
The itinerary will also be posted on
Facebook in advance so people in
those countries can recommend
places for the winner to visit,” Ali
says.
Find out more at www.facebook.
com/cathaypacific
Economy Class tickets on CX and KA
from Hong Kong for 80 days’ travel
between 1 June and 31 August with
hotel accommodation, a daily allowance of up to HK$2,800 per trip and
global travel insurance.
“As they travel, the winner will
post photos, video, tweets and do
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Airline wins plaudits for products, innovation
The hard work being done to provide
passengers with a rewarding travel
experience has been recognised in
various ways in recent weeks.
On the product side, The Wing,
Cathay Pacific’s signature lounge
in Hong Kong, was named as the
world’s best airport lounge in a list
published for USA Today.
The list was compiled by US guidebook publisher Frommers and it put
The Wing at the top of the world’s
top 10 executive lounges.
The lounge is currently going
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SITTING PRETTY: The Cathay Solus
chair has won praise.
through a phased renovation, which
is expected to be completed in the
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Performance Index
On-time performance
Within 15 mins
Industry standard
on-the-dot CX standard
Traffic/capacity (CX + KA)*
Passengers carried
2,243,788
6.8%
83.9%
Passenger load factor
81.3%
-2.5pt
ASKs (000)
10,518,099
10.1%
52.8%
Freight carried
144,402
8.9%
Cargo load factor
67.8%
-7.1pt
ATKs (000)
2,203,635
18.0%
* Figures for Jan 11
of its menu fresh on board, and its
broadband Internet and mobile
phone connectivity plans.
More praise came CX’s way this
month from TravelPlus, a UK online
magazine targetting frequent travellers.
In its Airline Amenity Bag Awards
2010, CX’s First Class Shanghai Tang
sleeper suits received a Gold Award
for Best Inflight Amenity, while The
Cabin’s Cathay Solus chairs won
Gold for Best Pre- or Post-Flight
Amenity.
third quarter of 2012.
Meanwhile, CX was named among
the world’s most innovative airlines
by Australian Business Traveller magazine, based on findings by aviation
research company AirlineTrends.
This looked at a range of products
and services for business travellers
to help select the world’s most innovative airlines, with CX cited for its
soon-to-launch Business Class seating, the “super stylish” new lounge
at HKIA, The Cabin, for being one of
only a few airlines to prepare some
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Produced by CX’s Corporate
Communication Department
7/F North Tower, Cathay Pacific City,
Lantau, HK
Publisher: C K Yeung
Managing Editor: Mark Tindall
Editor: Joyce Wong
Enquiries: 2747-5293
GalaCXy ID: CCD#SCT
Email: ccd#[email protected]
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Ivan Chu named as new COO
■ Asian Aerospace returns
Group all his working life, “and I look
forward to putting the experience I
have acquired over the last 26 years
to good use in this challenging role.
“Cathay Pacific has ambitious and
exciting plans for the future, and I
look forward to working with our
great team to contribute to our continuing growth and success.”
Ivan’s successor as Director Service Delivery will be announced in
due course.
International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Chairman Chris Pratt said he was
“very pleased” with the appointment of Ivan as COO.
“I am confident he will work very
well with John and the rest of the
Cathay Pacific team to realise the
many opportunities that lie ahead
for our business,” Chris said.
Commenting on his appointment,
Ivan said he has been with the CX
Cathay Pacific’s new-look team at
the top was confirmed on 20 January when the airline announced that
Ivan Chu would take up the role of
Director and Chief Operating Officer.
Ivan, Director Service Delivery
since September 2008, takes over
from John Slosar on 31 March – the
same day as John becomes Chief Executive and Tony Tyler leaves the airline to take over as Director-General
and Chief Executive Officer of the
Briefs
Hong Kong will once again
host the Asian Aerospace Asian
Aerospace International Expo
and Congress in the year in which
the city celebrates 100 years of
powered flight.
Cathay Pacific is back for the
third time as Official Carrier of the
biennial event, organised by Reed
Exhibitions and being held from
8-10 March at the AsiaWorld-Expo
adjacent to HKIA.
CX and Dragonair will have a
booth at the Expo featuring the
latest product and service offerings – see www.asianaerospace.
com for more details of the event.
New cargo terminal
rapidly taking shape
■ Staff Sevens tickets
The buzz has already begun for
the 2011 Cathay Pacific/Credit
Suisse Hong Kong Sevens 2011,
with the action taking place
from 27-29 March at Hong Kong
Stadium.
Staff can get in on the act
by registering for the limited
number of tickets allocated to the
airline – details are in Zone Highlights on IntraCX and registration
closes on 18 February.
See next month’s issue for full
details of what CX will be doing at
this year’s Sevens.
Installation of MHS begins, marking new milestone for the project
A major milestone in the construction of the Cathay Pacific Cargo
Terminal is reached this month as
the first sections of the materials
handling system (MHS) begin to be
installed at ground level.
The MHS is the key element of the
terminal – the system that will move
the freight in, out and around the
building – and its installation begins
following trials conducted using a
mock-up constructed in the Mainland.
“Siemens, the MHS manufacturer,
built a mock-up of three components of the system – the airside
interface mechanism, the landside
workstations and the scissor lift
that will transfer the ULDs from the
trucks,” says Cargo Terminal Programme Manager Peter Lee.
“It was a good opportunity for
our operations, engineering and IT
teams to test the reaction of these
components, which include a number of innovations such as a tilting
mechanism to get the ULDs onto
or off the airside interface with less
power.
“Overall it was a very useful exercise, and it highlighted some niggles
that need to be ironed out.”
Peter explains that the MHS installation will begin as the terminal
construction continues apace.
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The price of SingJet aviation
fuel on 2 February was
46%
higher than the same day
last year.
■
TERMINAL VELOCITY: The main shell of the cargo terminal is rising fast
(above). A mock-up of the MHS helped the team test various functions (right).
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service will be daily from 10 July,
with all flights operated by Boeing
777-300ER aircraft.
CX is beefing up its schedules
elsewhere in the network when the
summer schedule kicks in.
From 27 March, Paris will become
a double-daily service with three
more flights a week operating via
Amsterdam.
Seven more flights will be reinstated for Taipei, bringing the total
back to 108 a week.
In Indonesia, Jakarta will become
a thrice-daily service with the addition of another three flights a week,
which will operate via Singapore
until 13 August and then become
non-stop.
And Surabaya will become daily
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The recent surge in fuel prices
was reflected in the latest passenger fuel surcharges approved
by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation
Department.
For February, the surcharges
are HK$143 for short-haul services and HK$677 for long-haul
– rises of around 10.9% and 9.0%
on January.
the building are also substantially
constructed.
“We are well on track to meet our
target of topping out in the second
half of this year,” says Peter.
Meanwhile, the operations team is
continuing with its development of
the standard operating procedures
for the terminal, while the IT team
has finished the first two iterations
of the testing of the warehouse operating system.
There will be eight levels at the
terminal, CT1-CT8, with CT8 being
the roof level.
“We are making good progress
and the main columns are now up to
CT5,” Peter says.
The roof is in place for both CT1
and CT2, “and the beams for level
three are in position with the precast
slabs being installed right now.”
The ramps that will be used by the
trucks to carry freight in and out of
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■ Fuel surcharge up again
■ US China tour packages
extended
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Flight enhancements see Milan go daily from July
Following a successful launch last
March, the Milan route is already
proving its worth to Cathay Pacific.
Demand to and from Italy’s
main commercial city has been
consistently strong over the past
10 months and the airline has announced its intention to boost the
service.
The current four-times-weekly
■
with the addition of a new flight every Friday from Hong Kong.
The Penang route will get a boost
when the three flights that currently
go via Kuala Lumpur switch to nonstop from 27 March.
Other enhancements include the
use of larger aircraft to boost capacity on the Bangkok-Delhi and Johannesburg services.
The China Experience tour packages offered to US customers are
growing in size and scope with
a choice of 10 unique tours now
offered – up from just last year.
New offerings include cruises
along the Yangtze River, a trip
to the panda breeding centre in
Chengdu and visits to the magnificent sites of Lhasa in Tibet.
The packages feature a wealth
of options with the ability to mix
and match elements to create
something truly special.
3
Janice’s service attitude shines through
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Change is in the air
One-stop-shop for online bookings to boost passenger convenience
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QUICK CHANGE: CX’s
online ticket change
function includes an
easy-to-follow charge
table.
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Outlook migration a time of transition for email users
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With more and more Hong Kong
staff migrating to the Outlook
email system, colleagues need to
be aware of what will happen during the transition period – the time
when staff at CX and KA will be
communicating through three different email systems (GroupWise,
Lotus Notes, Outlook).
The transition period will continue until everyone is on Outlook,
and during this time there are a
number of things non-migrated users need to take note of:
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4
tive online pricing policy, with most
CX products and fares, including
packages, now available online, is
one reason customers are increasingly turning to the Internet to make
bookings.
“We also have a dedicated online
sales manager in key outports and
have boosted our web analysis to
look at strengths and weaknesses,
which helps drive improvement,” he
says.
Looking ahead, the goal is to provide passengers with a one-stopshop when they are booking online.
“People like to see everything
available in one place,” Lawrence
says.
“Buying products and packages is
easy, but increasingly we want to see
auxiliary items such as ticket changes, excess baggage, travel insurance
and extra legroom charges online as
well,” he adds.
n
IN PRODUCTION: New Business
Class seats are assembled.
tion will roll out in another 17 ports
including Amsterdam, Paris, Bangkok and Tokyo, with the Hong Kong
rollout scheduled for March.
Manager e-Business Lawrence
Fong says on average only about
400 tickets a month from North
America are actually changed as
limitations are imposed.
“After the PSS cutover in November when everything is on Amadeus, many of these limitations will be
removed,” he says.
Online ticket sales have shot up
over the past few years with 2010
seeing 73% growth year on year,
representing 7% of total passenger
revenue.
“Online sales are booming with
many ports reporting double-digit
growth,” Lawrence says, adding
that a target of 60% growth has
been set for 2011.
Lawrence says the clear competi-
erary by simply clicking a button.
Cathay Pacific became the first
Asian
airline
to
launch online ticket
change when the
North
American
ports rolled out the
application in June
2010.
On 12 January,
Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and United
Kingdom began
offering the option.
On 16 February, the func-
More and more outports are rolling
out the online ticket change function, giving passengers the ease of
changing their travel itin-
n
“We started in mid-2009 by providing Sicma with the CX specifications,” says Diamond.
There were numerous meeting
and prototype reviews in Sicma before the first mockup seat was ready.
The seat then went into production
and the first article inspection was
held 15 months into the programme
followed by certification testing
– the most critical and hardest part.
“Because it is not a conventional
forward-facing seat, the airbag design and placement had to be modified and retested. It took us four
months to successfully pass all the
tests,” says Diamond.
“The 777ER has a different seating
angle so the airbag design also had
to cater for that,” he adds.
Engineering was also required to
ensure that everything was exactly
the same as in the drawings.
“The Federal Aviation Administration inspectors were onsite to verify
every piece before it could go for
testing,” Diamond says.
“At one point, we had CX and Boeing staff along with up to four inspectors all looking at the drawings
and setup.”
Finally the new product was installed in an aircraft in Toulouse.
“The installation, which takes up
to five days, is actually the easiest
part,” Diamond smiles.
The first 777-300ER to get the
new seats will be new arrival B-KPT,
which will be leave Seattle for Hong
Kong on 30 March.
GREAT JOB!: John Slosar and
Dilecta Clarke(left) congratulate
Janice Lee on her win.
n
• Continued from page 1
n
New Business
Class ready
for launch
Executive Dilecta Clarke, collecting
the award on behalf of the airline.
There was a strong CX presence
at the event with Chief Operating
Officer John Slosar and Director
Corporate Affairs and HKACE Chairman Quince Chong attending.
HKACE is a non-profit professional organisation led by customer service professionals and
establishments that is committed
to fostering customer service excellence in Hong Kong.
being nominated then submitting
an application form detailing my
job scope, performance achievements, how I satisfy or exceed customers’ needs and expectations
and a recent case study,” she says.
The next step involved an onsite test with committee members
observing a training class before a
panel interview session.
“It was a four-person panel and
they all threw questions at me,”
Janice says.
The airline also took the Bronze
Award in the Grand Award category with Inflight Service Manager/Learning & Development
Cathay Pacific was a winner at
both corporate and individual levels at the annual awards run by the
Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence (HKACE).
At a ceremony held on 20 January, the Gold Award in the Internal
Support Service – Individual category was presented to Inflight
Service Manager and Learning &
Development Executive (Inflight
Service Trainer, Janice Lee.
Janice says she was “exhilarated”
to learn she had won after going
through the rigorous judging process.
“The preliminary round involved
Busy Search – check Outlook user’s
availability by phone/ email
During the transition period, Outlook users’ calendar availability will
not be accessible through GroupWise/Lotus Notes.
Remember to look at your Inbox
as responses from Outlook users
will come in as emails.
Instead of relying solely on the
busy search function of your current platform, you are advised to
double-check with colleagues by
phone/email until everyone is migrated to Outlook.
Tracking Meeting Responses –
check your Inbox instead of Properties tab
For GroupWise users, accept or decline responses generated by Outlook will not be consolidated under
the “Properties” tab in GroupWise.
Cancelling Meetings – remind
meeting participants by phone/
email
When you cancel a meeting on
GroupWise/Lotus Notes remember
to call or email your meeting participants on Outlook to ensure that
they are aware – deleting a calendar appointment from GroupWise/
Lotus Notes will not remove the
item in Outlook calendars.
Receiving Outlook Meeting Request – mark your calendar manually
An appointment sent from Outlook
to GroupWise will appear as an
email in your Inbox, not as a calendar item. To accept or decline the
meeting, you can contact the meeting organiser directly.
Also, remember to mark the appointment on your calendar manually during the transition period.
Initiating Recurring Meeting
Avoid setting up recurring meetings
with colleagues who are not on your
email platform – it will not be shown
properly in their calendars.
To assist staff through the transition, the programme team will be
publishing migration schedules to
identify which department is already
on Outlook.
Find out more about transition
handling at the NWoW homepage.
Thinking
in
every way, every day
Briefs
n oneworld best
alliance for apps
A leading business travel magazine has named oneworld as the
best alliance for iPad, iPhone and
iPod timetable apps.
Australian Business Traveller
looked at the offerings of all three
alliances and concluded: “We think
that oneworld’s app is the best of
the lot in functionality, feature set and
– crucially for people who love their
Apple devices – user
experience.”
oneworld was also recently
voted as Best Alliance for the
wines served inflight by its member airlines in the latest Cellars in
the Sky Awards, run by Business
Traveller in the UK.
Sustainable development strategy to touch every aspect of airline
Encouraging staff to consider the
environmental impact of the decisions they make day by day is a key
component of Cathay Pacific’s new
sustainable development strategy.
Throughout 2010, the Environmental Affairs Department worked
with 15 departments and subsidiaries to devise a sustainability programme for the whole company to
follow.
“Devising a strategy for a large
and diverse business such as Cathay Pacific was challenging, but
we’re pleased with the end result,”
says Head of Environmental Affairs
Mark Watson.
The strategy has been divided
into five key areas – operating our
flights, interacting with
all at the same time,” Mark says.
For example, one goal inflight is
to have more items made from sustainable materials.
Environmental Manager Janice Lao says: “We’ve been working
closely with the ISD Logistics and
Catering teams looking at everything from napkins to packaging
and food sourcing, with sustainability considerations during purchasing.
“The experience I had is they
are willing to give the idea a trial
as long as the quality reaches the
standard CX expects. After a three
month trial, the white plastic bags
given out to passengers are now
biodegradable,” Janice adds.
ENV is also working with the Product team to develop
our customers, investing in people
and communities, managing our
infrastructure and working with our
supply chain – with core departments being grouped under the
relevant area.
Action plans were developed for
each strategic area with sustainability at the heart, such as sourcing
materials sustainably from suppliers, achieving at least a 1.5% fuel efficiency improvement year on year
and offering a wider range of sustainable products to customers.
“The sustainability plan is obviously different for each department
but the overall idea is to think about
mitigating or reducing the environmental impact of our activities, being a responsible company and the
need to continue to generate economic value for shareholders,
a disposable toothbrush in the
Business Class amenity kits which
will be made from plant starch and
cellulose.
The toothbrushes, which will appear inflight later this year, are biodegradable and use fewer resources
during production.
“The idea is to embed sustainability into mainstream company
thinking, into everything we do,
and ask staff to think innovatively
about how we can best achieve
this,” Mark says.
“It is possible to have a high quality product, save money and
still take sustainability
into account,” he
adds
n Rolls-Royce wins contract
Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce
has signed a maintenance contract
to provide its TotalCare long-term
services support programme for
the Trent 700 engines that power
eight new CX Airbus A330 aircraft.
An enhanced engine refurbishment programme for RB211-524
engines that power Boeing 747400 aircraft will also be delivered
up to 2013.
CX is currently the largest
customer for Rolls-Royce’s Trent
700 – the only engine specifically
designed for the Airbus A330.
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Asia Miles members no longer need to worry when they leave their
card at home thanks to the launch of a mobile membership card.
The card is available on Asia Miles mobile platforms, including the
iPhone and iPad applications as well as the mobile site.
The mobile card does not have an expiry date, is not transferable
and only one Asia Miles membership number can be stored in an app
on the member’s mobile.
“Feedback has been positive since the soft launch in January,” says
Manager Partnership & Programme Development Patton Chan. “Members have told us they don’t always have their card handy so they
sometimes miss out on miles.”
The mobile membership card is the latest development in Asia Miles’
suite of mobile services which include an interactive map to help locate dining partners. Meanwhile, an Android version of the mobile app
is also in the process of being developed.
n
Card on the go for Asia Miles
Campaign to meet
more of the team
The People and Service internal
campaign proved so popular last
year that a new promotion has
started to find more staff willing
to tell their stories on the Meet the
Team website.
More than a third of the entire
staff community participated in the
previous campaign and Assistant
Marketing Manager Kathy Tang says
the engagement exercise helped
staff understand the spirit behind
the People and Service campaign
“Right now the Meet the Team
website has about 100 staff featured
and we would like to expand it further and give customers a chance
to get to know more staff as well
as provide a more rounded
view of how many different
roles and people there are
in the airline,” she adds.
The new campaign,
which is running until 1
April, is also open to staff
working at subsidiaries
carrying the CX brand.
“We think customers
would be interested in
learning about frontline
staff, as well as staff who
do interesting jobs but don’t directly
interact with them such as Catering
or Engineering,” says Kathy.
This time around staff can recommend themselves or recommend
up to three colleagues.
“In both cases they have to submit two photos – one in work attire and one in casual clothes – and
explain what Service Straight From
the Heart means to them and how
they bring it alive,” Kathy says.
Staff selected will take part in a
professional photo shoot, while the
nominator will receive a HK$500 CXcitement coupon.
More information can be found
on the Marketing site on IntraCX.
registered users of the
Customer Information
Systems data
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n CX appeals antitrust
decisions
Cathay Pacific has filed an appeal
of the European Commission’s
decision to fine the Company €57.1
million for violations of European
competition law that occurred between May 2004 and February 2006.
The appeal was filed with the
General Court of the European Union, and follows an appeal the airline filed in the Seoul High Court
in December 2010 challenging a
similar decision by the Korean Fair
Trade Commission.
n Seats on display
Staff have the chance to try out
the new Business Class seat at a
roadshow being held at Cathay
City.
The seat, the Cathay Solus chair
and paintings by local artist Maria
Lobo will be showcased from
14-18 February in the sofa area
outside the Auditorium.
A lucky draw to win a pair of
Business Class tickets to Sydney
will also be held.
5
Letters to the
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Service with
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It was one of the best Business Class
flights I have experienced in over 20
years of flying. The cabin team – Flight
Pursers Maggie Wong (below right),
Gladys Lee and Michelle Liu (below
left) – all provided excellent service.
It was all of the special small touches
– the fresh orange juice before takeoff,
my favourite magazine The Economist
available, the excellent New Zealand
white wine and my favourite ice cream
and chocolate being served.
Taken for
a ride
■
A passenger on CX369 from
Shanghai to Hong Kong in
October appreciated the
special small touches provided throughout the trip.
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Are there any plans to change
the Economy Class seats soon?
Sometimes the effort behind the fine inflight service
offered is spoiled because the
passengers are just dissatisfied
with the legroom, width and
comfort of the Economy Class
seats.
I have travelled with other
airlines and I feel like their
seats are more comfy and have
more legroom.
Our Economy Class seats
certainly need to be reviewed
if we want to remain on top.
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Joy Spanhoff
ISD
Alex McGowan, Head of Product, replies: There is certainly
polarised opinion about our
fixed-shell Economy Class seats.
Many passengers truly value
the fact that their living space is
their own, with noone reclining
into it.
However, we are sensitive
to the fact that there are passengers who find the design
less than ideal. We are working
on some initiatives to improve
things but they are not suffi-
ciently advanced to make any
announcements.
As well as remembering that
this product has strong supporters, we should also be clear
on the facts.
The seat pitch – at 32 inches
– is very much in the top set
worldwide. We operate nine
abreast seating on the Boeing
777s where many airlines are
at 10 abreast – this makes our
seats around an inch-and-ahalf wider.
Can someone explain why cabin
crew are entitled to a free taxi if
we land before 5:30am and the
pilots are not.
Were the pilots not part of the
crew that just flew through the
night?
As it currently stands all the
cabin crew can go home in a taxi
while the cockpit crew have to
wait for public transport to start
operating.
Name withheld
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6
We welcome feedback from anyone in the CX network on any issue affecting the
airline or the industry. Please email your letters to CCD#SCT. Not all letters will be
published but those that are will be edited for length and to comply with the CX
World style.
The sender of the star letter each month will win 3,000 Asia Miles. The Feedback
page is sponsored by Asia’s leading travel reward programme.
■
On behalf of the Tourism Crisis Management Office of Macau and more
than 100 Macau students who were
stranded in Europe due to the snow, it
is my honour to express our profound
gratitude and appreciation for the
exceptional support and collaboration
rendered by yourself, Hiddy Yuen, Connie Keung and other members of your
team at Cathay Pacific, for successfully
repatriating the affected students home
in a timely manner.
The efficient and
highly professional
collaboration of
Cathay Pacific
impressed us
and it undoubtedly serves as a
glowing example
of the what
quality service
is in the global airline
industry.
■
Macau Government Tourist Office Director Joao
Manuel Costa Antunes was
in charge of the Tourism
Crisis Management Office in
Macau during the weather
disruptions in London. Afterwards he wrote to General
Manager Sales, PRD & HK
Chitty Cheung (below) to
thank her and the Hong
Kong Reservations team for
their help in getting stranded Macau students home.
Send us your feedback
Airport
manpower
Does AHQ really look into the
manpower availability in our outports?
Ports are requested to cut costs
while at the same time workload
is increased.
How is this justified? Who decides on each port’s manpower?
What is taken into consideration?
With growing passenger demand on service recovery, outports are asked to handle baggage using staff who also need
to cover operations.
When there is a ground handling agent (GHA) cutover, again
staff are expected to handle the
cutover and cover operations.
Does AHQ really bother to ensure ports have sufficient manpower before requesting for coordinators?
Also is there a fixed headcount
for each department based on
the size of the port?
Different airports also have different setups – some have a Level
B Manager on Duty while others
have Level A staff as Manager on
Duty. Can it be standardised to
avoid confusion?
Jeyanthi V,
Singapore
Peter Langslow, General Manager Airports, replies: Regulatory compliance, operational and
safety standards, quality of product and service, contingency preparedness – the list of vital priorities is long, and managing all this
to the highest possible standards
certainly requires a good deal
of detailed work in our airports
around the world.
I recognise the pressure that
can result for our airport teams,
and exceptional events such as
changes in GHA or the upcoming
change from CUPAC to Altea add
to this at times.
At the same time, it is precisely
in managing the quality of the
work done in our airports that
our own airport teams add value.
We outsource to third-party
GHAs in six out of seven airports,
and whereas some other airlines
appoint a GHA and then leave
them to get on with it, we believe
that our own team of CX and KA
airport staff adds real value in our
pursuit of quality.
The appointment of port coordinators to focus on different
aspects of the airport task then
simply brings the necessary focus
to bear, as well as developing expertise.
To your specific question, airport manpower cases are typically raised by the port and studied
jointly with AHQ in Hong Kong,
prior to being submitted for hiring approval.
Appreciation
shown
While I am not complaining about
receiving the 13th month and
profit share, for such an exceptional year it seems a shame management still have to dress it up
with words like “discretionary”.
What would staff receive even
if we only made half of what is
expected?
Surely a specific bonus surplus
to show how hard the team “that
goes the extra mile” has worked
would show just how much we
are appreciated.
Name withheld
Bob Nipperess, Employee Services Manager, replies: The use
of the word “discretionary” is deliberate because the payment
of the 13th month and/or profit
share is dependent on the ability of the company to make such
payments.
Given that our business environment is subject to change we
cannot guarantee either the profit share or 13th month payments.
We believe the word “discretionary” therefore best describes the
mechanism for payment.
Captain Steve Mihos, Personnel
and Industrial Manager, Flight
Crew, replies: The overnight taxi
service provided to cabin crew is
but one area in which cabin and
cockpit crew receive differing entitlements.
Cabin crew patterns are different, as is the cockpit crew’s
entitlement to a room at the
Headland Hotel prior to a flight.
In short, ISD and FOP policy differs in many areas.
Wherever possible, our cabin
crew colleagues are often happy
to share taxis if the destinations
can be grouped.
Nominee
change?
I would like to ask why only single
employees are allowed to nominate a “friend” as their nominee?
I am married but both my parents and my wife’s parents are
deceased.
My brother does not like to
travel and my two children have
young families and cannot take
advantage of the priviledge.
I think the privilege should be
extended to all staff, not only single staff, as we all have different
situations.
Rick Patterson,
Vancouver
e Editor
Bob Nipperess, Employee Services Manager, replies: The principle embodied in our staff travel
scheme is to provide equal opportunities to all employees.
However, if the employee’s (potentially) eligible nominees do not
wish to avail themselves of the opportunities we offer then that situation is a matter for the individual
employee.
It is for this reason that the “core”
dependants/relatives of employees, i.e. children, parents and parents-in-law, are included as options
for both married and single employees.
Where there is a difference is in
the provision of spouse for married employees and companion for
single employees.
Where relatives are legally
classed as “dependants” we extend
the same priority as the employee.
For other nominees we offer the
next best priority. We believe this
arrangement provides a fair and
balanced approach to the options
available for all employees and is,
incidentally, more generous than
most other industry partners.
New cities
on the radar?
Beneficial
advice?
I was hoping someone could
clarify how information from other
airlines is compiled and disseminated to CX staff on the Benefits Service
Centre’s website and Travel Desk.
When Qantas began their temporary embargo due to the A380
groundings, the advice was buried
in the embargo page and was not
flashed on the news feed.
Internal communication is really
important and some expat staff rely
on other carriers to get them home
to visit family.
This is increasingly confusing
when we are not supported with accurate information.
Name withheld
Bob Nipperess, Employee Services Manager, replies: I agree we
would have made matters clearer
had we posted the information
more explicitly.
We have already taken steps to
ensure that where some special restriction applies, we will post it on
the Travel Desk landing page as well
as the individual airline sub-page.
Has Cathay Pacific considered resuming services to Zurich or adding Munich?
I see that both Lufthansa and
Swiss Airlines are performing quite
well on these routes and I believe
we can also do a good job there.
Name withheld
Mark Ng, Manager Airline Planning, replies: Zurich and Munich
are, among some other cities in
Europe, under our radar as possible
new destinations for the future,
but for the time being it seems that
we don’t have the right aircraft to
match the demand to these two
cities.
For the near future, we will focus
more on beefing up frequencies
to our existing European destinations.
For example, we have already
added four more flights per week
to Paris since December last year
and there is more to come in 2011.
Travel info
on tap
Has oneworld ever considered
bringing its Travel Stations, Charging Stations and Travel Library to
Hong Kong International Airport or
other important hubs?
It would be a very welcome move
for our passengers as many of them
have said they are eager for more
travel information as well as a chance
to charge their personal electronic
devices prior to boarding.
Name withheld
oneworld Marketing Manone
ager PJ Mayol replies: oneworld is constantly reviewing
opportunities to introduce the
award-winning Travel Stations
and Charging Stations at selected airports across the world.
About a year ago we looked,
with Cathay Pacific, at offering
the oneworld Travel Station to
customers departing from Hong
custom
Kong.
Kong
Unfortunately, the cost involved, mainly in terms of rental
space at the airport, made us decide
not to proceed at that time.
But we are looking at options for
putting in new Travel and Charging Stations in 2011, so watch this
space!
Extending
upgrades
As management updates constantly
refer to the cyclical nature of our industry but acknowledge just how
well we are doing, would it not show
great thanks to upgrade the staff
travel system cyclically as well.
Namely that in good times we
adopt the practice of our other
oneworld carriers and upgrade staff
where we can. Surely this would
show just how much the staff are
appreciated rather than just pats on
the back.
China teams
look ahead
Dragonair and Cathay Pacific staff from all over Mainland China gathered
in Ningbo on 24-25 January for the annual China Kickoff Conference.
A Cargo Meeting, China Accounts & Administration Officer Meeting and
China Marketing & Sales Conference were also held over the one-and-halfday event with Director Cargo Nick Rhodes and Director Sales & Marketing
Rupert Hogg both flying up to brief the teams.
Rupert kicked off the event with a State of the Nation address before
General Manager China Sam Swire provided the China outlook for 2011
including Asia Miles recruitment, the impact the PSS cutover will have and
the continuation of the China-wide CSR programme.
Dragonair James Tong provided an update on KA with an emphasis on
its youth-oriented programme for 2011. “The CSR youth initiative, which
started in 2010 in Hangzhou with children being invited to visit the 25th
Anniversary aircraft, will continue, with activities being conducted in
Mainland ports,” James said.
Nick Rhodes kicked off the cargo meeting with a general update covering
sales results for 2010. He also covered the targets for 2011, strategy, fleet
planning, the cargo terminal, the Air China joint venture and the e-freight
project.
The China Marketing & Sales Conference included a presentation on
commercial priorities by Manager Marketing & Sales China Vivian Lo and a
session by General Manager CPLP & CIS Paul Loo on loyalty marketing.
The meeting also included the Marketing & Sales Awards with the
Hangzhou team receiving the 2010 Crystal Ball Award for the lowest
standard deviation between performance and forecast, while the Wuhan
took the Most Energetic Marketing Award and Hangzhou nabbed the
Most Caring team award for a CSR initiative.
Name withheld
Bob Nipperess, Employee Services
Manager, replies: Subject to operational constraints on the day Cathay
Pacific has always had a practice of
upgrading our staff passengers in
order to get them away on flights.
All we ask is that the traveller is
appropriately dressed for travel in a
premium cabin.
In addition, we also provide additional specific upgrade vouchers
to our longer serving staff in recognition of their contribution to the
company.
CHINA SPOTLIGHT: (From top) Staff let their hair down at the gala
dinner; Sam Swire updates the teams; and Sam, Rupert Hogg and
James Tong present long-service awards.
Crystal bunny up for grabs!
Dragonair is offering an exclusive Swarovski crystal bunny to passengers to celebrate the start of the Year of the Rabbit.
Until 31 March, for every HK$500 spent on inflight sales items or
home delivery items, the passenger will receive a scratch-and-win
card. During the promotion period,
one rabbit will be given away
every day.
More than 60 new items
have been added to the inflight sales menu including
jewellery and watches from
Arte, Carat and Folli Follie which
are exclusive to the airline.
7
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IMT Service
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its processes
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Staff feedback panels
proving their worth
Comments and ideas from CX community influencing product design
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10
SPREADING THE WORD: PSS Coordinators from around the network
listen intently and (insert) Richard Reed explains the changes
PSS will bring.
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Colleagues were saddened to
hear of the passing of Senior
Purser Marie Perez on 19 January.
Marie returned to Hong Kong
after operating a flight from Milan and collapsed at the airport.
She was rushed to the hospital
but sadly passed away on arrival.
Cabin Crew Line Manager
– ISM & SP Kevin Ip says Marie
was described by her colleagues
as a “nice, gentle, warm person
who was very even tempered”.
She is survived by her parents,
husband and four children.
were arranged for HKIA, WRT and
HKO colleagues to attend briefings
from PSS managers.
The team has also been flying out
to regional conferences overseas,
ensuring that key messages are
spread around the network.
“Engaging those who will use the
new system is crucial,” says General
Manager PSS Richard Reed.
“The PSS team is responsible for
making the system ready for the
business, but it’s the responsibility
of departments, outports and frontline staff to get themselves ready
for the new systems.”
More information on the programme can be found on the PSS
team site on IntraCX.
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Obituary –
Marie Perez
As Cathay Pacific and Dragonair
moved into 2011, the year in which
the two airlines will see their biggest-ever system change, Passenger
Services Systems (PSS) Coordinators
from around the network gathered
in Hong Kong for a workshop aimed
at ensuring they are engaged and
committed to the programme.
More than 240 staff joined the
workshop on 12 January, including
160 PSS Coordinators, 20 Outport
Automation Coordinators and 60
departmental representatives.
The workshop included briefings
on the PSS Coordinators’ roles and
responsibilities, information on the
new systems, training and cutover
plan details, plus an interactive
breakout session where questions
could be raised.
The PSS team has also been busy
conducting briefings for Hong
Kong-based and overseas staff.
“Brown bag” lunchtime sessions
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It’s been a busy time for the team
working in the new Service Centre
at KA House, with an increase in
traffic recorded since the facility
opened in December 2010.
In terms of volume, the Service
Centre is receiving approximately
1,000 emails each day along with
many telephone interactions. This
is an increase on the Service Centre traffic previously handled by HP
under an outsourcing contract.
However, the overall number of
incidents has only increased on par
with the increased volume levels.
Having been in operation for less
than two months, there are still
procedures and processes that are
being fine-tuned. Staff training is
continuing and various systems are
coming into place.
John Tominey, Service Centre
Manager, accepts that improvements are needed in some areas
but believes the performance of
staff will pick up as they become
more familiar with the processes
and procedures being used.
“It will take a few more months
before the situation fully stablises
so we ask for staff’s continued support and patience when contacting
the Service Centre,” he says.
John adds that the Service Centre will soon be launching a customer satisfaction survey with the
feedback being used to help determine key issues and areas for improvement.
PSS team begins engagement exercise
With thousands of staff scattered
throughout the network, getting
effective feedback on the many
products Cathay Pacific provides
is a difficult task – one the online
community panels were set up to
address.
In July last year 11,500 invitations
were sent out by the Product Department’s Performance Measures
team, primarily to frontline staff,
asking them to join the community
and take part in regular surveys.
The team received 1,400 responses with the largest group being 849 CX cabin crew, while on the
airports side there were more than
400 respondents.
Head of Product Alex McGowan
says there will be a second round
of recruitment in February while
existing members will be able to
reconfirm the areas to which they
are interested in contributing to.
“We already have a very broad
and representative group but we’d
love to have even more people
giving us their ideas and input,” he
says.
Since August, the team has run
eight surveys with another two
currently underway.
“We typically send the question
to about 500 staff and on average
get a 50% response rate – which
is exceptionally high,” says Performance Analyst and Community
Panels Project Manager Yvonne
Ning.
Most surveys are multiple-choice
questions combined with several
open-ended questions to allow for
comments. “We can also do a pulse
survey which allows us to send out
one question and get responses in
real time,” Yvonne says.
FOCUSED FEEDBACK: Heat mapping
allows survey participants to highlight areas of concern.
A more interactive method is
“heat mapping” which allows participants to view a photo and click
on it with a highlighter to provide
input.
“For instance, we can show a
photo of a lounge reception counter and if all the staff feel there is
not enough space to work behind
it, they can click on the area and
point that out,” Alex says.
A full feedback loop has also
been implemented so participants
and other staff can see the effectiveness of the online community
panels.
“Now we’ve completed a number of surveys, we will be providing summarised responses, and
as new products and services are
introduced we will show how staff
feedback influenced the design,”
he says.
Newsletter hits
1,000 milestone
More colourful look on the way with refreshed CCNL
There was a landmark moment in
the history of the Cabin Crew Newsletter (CCNL) on 3 January with the
1,000th issue going to press.
Ever since June 1990, the weekly
publication has been updating crew
throughout the network on the latest safety and service news to help
them in their work.
“Initially there was a noticeboard
at Kai Tak where crew would stop
by and read the notices, but that
wasn’t very practical,” says CCNL editor Ross Harding.
Even these days with the website
and other crew engagement activities such as Jetset TV (see right), the
printed CCNL is still the main communication tool for crew.
“The website is used for urgent
messages but the newsletters are
still the go-to tool for crew – trainers refer to it and crew take it regularly with them to read,” Ross says.
The 3 January issue harked back
to the first CCNL by copying the
original font and design.
From 14 February, the magazine
TV STAR: Lilian Chan presents the pilot episode of Jetset TV.
New view on cabin crew
A new television show hit the Cathay
Pacific airwaves in December with
the launch of Jetset TV.
The first half-hour segment of the
monthly show introduced presenter
Flight Attendant Lilian Chan, news
anchor Flight Attendant Zelos Ho, a
round table discussion with senior
management including General
Manager Inflight Services Charlie
Stewart-Cox, and a behind-thescenes look at compliment letters.
Manager Crew Communications
Elaine Champion says Jetset TV
shows will provide “infotainment”
with separate short news slots and
longer feature segments.
“The crew community is rapidly
growing and is more diverse,” Elaine
says.
“They are also getting younger
and in this era of social media the
way they get their news is increasingly in sound bites,” she adds.
HEADLINER: Ross Harding presents CCNL issues through the years.
has been given a brand new look.
“The last change was in 2004, and
magazines need a refresh now and
again so they can stay modern and
in touch,” says Ross.
“I want the magazine to be more
colourful and interactive with letters to the editor as well as crew
contributions,” he adds.
Crew wanting a trip down the
CCNL memory lane had a chance to
look at old issues and read past articles on panels put up in the crew
lounge.
A small problem arose however
when Ross and his team were putting the display together.
“The 1992 issues have all vanished and we are not sure why,”
Ross says. “If anyone finds them at
the back of a cupboard, please get
in touch!”
Week in the sun for contest winner
To celebrate its 1,000th anniversary, the CCNL team developed a two-month contest asking
crew to collect stickers and take part in weekly competitions before the big lucky draw prize
to win a week in either Phuket or Tokyo.
The final lucky draw by Manager Cabin Crew Relations & Bases Deborah Mellema
(pictured) attracted 2,033 entries and was won by Flight Attendant May Lam who chose the
Phuket break as her prize.
“I didn’t expect to win as I knew there would be lots of crew participating. Even after reading the email from Ross, I thought he was simply announcing the news that a winner had
been picked. It wasn’t until a friend called that I realised it was me!” she says.
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The Jetset TV format is still evolving with the news segment likely
to be changed into a weekly or biweekly teaser slot, while the longer
monthly show will feature more entertainment segments.
“We want to do things like CX Idol,
and ask crew to vote for their favourite, which will help get the community involved,” Elaine says.
Eventually the whole show will
be handed over to crew to look after
from story development to scriptwriting, producing and presenting.
“They will also help in developing
story ideas that are of real interest to
the crew community,” Elaine says.
Contact Cabin Crew Communications Executive Christina Foo (ISDCHCF) if you are interested in participating.
• One Minute with Zelos Ho – page
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New club helps
retirees stay in touch
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Long-service awards were presented on 13 December with 21 staff
receiving 20-year awards, 12 receiving 25-year awards and six staff
being presented with their 30-year awards.
Pictured above, Chief Operating Officer John Slosar
presented 40-year long- service awards to retiree Rinko
Kanda, Assistant Manager – MOD William Mak, Singapore
Sales Co-ordinator Jenny Sum, Senior Line Maintenance
Engineer Sammy Li and Shigenobu Ohno who is also now
retired. Singapore Cargo Services Supervisor Tan Thian Hor
received his 40-year award on 14 December from Chief
Executive Tony Tyler (pictured right).
n
CX veterans honoured
A new CX Group Retiree Club
(CGRC) was launched in January to foster closer communication between retirees and the
company.
“Previously the arrangements
for retiree groups was an informal one with several retiree
clubs in various outports,” says
Employee Services Manager
Bob Nipperess.
“However, when we cut over
to PSS in November all ticketing
will become automated and retirees will need to log onto their
dedicated site on iConnect to
book and obtain tickets.
“We saw this as an ideal opportunity to review how we
keep in touch with our retir-
ees and to involve them in company initiatives,” Bob adds.
Not surprisingly the most active retiree club was the Hong
Kong-based CX Vintages Club,
The Personnel Department
worked closely with the group
to move all their members over
to the CGRC.
Membership of the clubs is
free to any retired employee
and each club will be asked to
set themselves up with an appropriate committee structure.
To prepare for the launch,
a dedicated CGRC page was
launched on the retiree site on
20 January to help retirees stay
in touch.
“Our retirees will need to ac-
cess IntraCX to get their tickets
anyway so it makes sense to use
it to host the individual CGRC
club pages,” says Bob
“The site will have photos of
club activities, event announcements and membership information together with details of
travel and other special offers,”
he adds.
The Personnel team is now
working with outports to draw
up lists of retirees to help them
establish their own CGRCs.
“With more than 1,500 active
retirees around the network,
many of whom are not users of
email, just getting up-to-date
contact details is a challenge,”
says Bob.
11
JAPAN
Candy treat for Marco
Polo members’ party
Top-tier Marco Polo Club members gathered
at the Royal Park Shiodome Tower Hotel on
2 December for a pre-Christmas treat.
General Manager Japan Simon Large was
on hand to greet the guests who then enjoyed
watching a Japanese candy craftsman twist
candy into various shapes such as dragons
or aircraft, a Chinese flower calligrapher and
taking part in a fun quiz.
One lucky winner also went home with the
grand prize of 100,000 Asia Miles.
High flyers night out
PHILIPPINES
A Christmas-themed cocktail reception was held
on 9 December for the Marco Polo Club, with
around 70 members in attendance.
Marco Polo Club Manager Katie Rowen flew in
from Hong Kong for the event and to meet the
Philippine members. Katie and Country Manager
Ed Higgs gave a brief preview of the new Business
Class seats which was shown via a virtual tour on
an iPad.
Entertainment was provided by the Philippine
Ballet Theatre who performed an excerpt from
seasonal favourite The Nutcracker.
BAHRAIN
Excitement for
basketball fans
More than 2,500 sports enthusiasts
in Bahrain were thrilled by the
opportunity to enjoy some worldclass basketball action.
Cathay Pacific was gold
sponsor for the event
in mid-January which
saw the Philippines
national team, Smart
Gilas, up against
two of Bahrain’s two
leading clubs – Al Ahli
and Moharraq.
Taipei Engineering team rides out the storm
Engine change completed, the challenge was to return to
Taipei.
They set off on 22 December, driving first to Manchester to take
a freighter to Amsterdam, stopping over in Dubai for refuelling
before arriving back in Hong Kong and hopping over to Taipei – a
trip of more than 30 hours.
It certainly gave them a good story to tell over Christmas
dinner!
TAIWAN
Just as the first snowstorm was threatening to disrupt travel to
London over the Christmas break, word came that an engine on
B-HXB was waiting for a change in Heathrow.
Even though the Taipei Engineering team had just completed
a mission to Kazakhstan, a five-person team got ready to leave
straight away. They departed on 17 December, taking a freighter
to Mumbai and proceeding on to London, arriving just a few hours
before the airport closed on 19 December.
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE: Taipei
Engineers (from left) JW Chiou, LH
Chen, David Lee, MY Lin and Doug
Jen.
12
PORT PEOPLE
Bringing joy into children’s lives
The Beijing Cathay Pacific and Dragonair teams visited the Prince
of Peace Children’s Home and Rehabilitation Centre in Tianjin on
15 January to clean up the centre and play with the children.
Organised by Vice President Marketing America Dennis Owen,
who had previously volunteered at the home, the US and China
teams also raised funds to buy diapers, toys
and other useful items to give to the
children.
The team enjoyed a performance
by the children as well as performing
songs themselves.
Staff also spent some time helping out
with the laundry and cleaning.
Cantonese star
CHINA
Tokyo Reservations & Ticketing Agent Emii Ohata has a
special relationship with Hong Kong after spending a year
in the city as an exchange student at the Chinese University
of Hong Kong (CUHK) eight years ago.
During that time she also took the opportunity to learn
the local language. “At CUHK all the exchange students
share living quarters with locals and they taught me a lot
of Cantonese,” she says.
Emii says many people find Cantonese difficult to learn
because of the nine tones involved.
“But I did not think so. I think Cantonese has a special
kind of pronunciation which is different from Japanese – it
was very interesting and I loved learning a new language,”
she says.
Emii has been with CX for seven years, mainly on the
Reservations & Ticketing team. Unfortunately Hong Kong
passengers’ ability to speak English means she doesn’t
practice her language skills at work.
“To practice, I keep in touch with my
Cantonese-speaking friends and it
comes in handy when talking to
colleagues in Hong Kong,” Emii says.
“I also listen to Hong Kong radio
programmes online.”
Outside of work, Emii enjoys
travelling and hiking.
“I have family who live in
Shizuoka, which is famous
for its green tea and is also
where Mt Fuji is,” she says.
Even as Brisbane faced inundation in January, Brisbane Airport managed to stay
high and dry and was operational as floodwaters rose in the city areas.
Airport Services Supervisor Raeleen Naidoo says: “Our biggest challenge was
catering our flights. Unfortunately, fresh food was in very short
supply and we had to cater the ex-Brisbane flights from Hong
Kong for almost a week.”
The Sales team located downtown were not quite so
fortunate. “Luckily we had 48 hours notice and evacuated the
office,” says Business Development Manager Howard Field.
As the flood waters rose, the server was transferred from the
Sales office to the Airport office as the city lost power. “This was
a great idea as it meant the Airport, Cargo and Engineering teams
were all able to have uninterrupted email access, while the Sales
team worked from home for five days,” says Howard.
AUSTRALIA
Brisbane teams back in action
WASHED AWAY: Brisbane’s
floods made headlines
around the world.
More than 100 staff from the US and
Canada gathered in San Francisco in
January for the annual management
conference in North America.
A number of Directors
and General Managers
provided updates from Head Office and
shared developments surrounding the
new Business Class product.
At the gala dinner, long-service
awards were presented and a standing ovation was given to Supervisor Revenue Management Unit
Shirley Ko for 40 years of
dedication when she received the award from
Senior Vice President
Americas Scott Mowrer and Manager Revenue Management Unit Lisa
Manning (pictured far left).
District Sales Manager Southeast
USA Bill Concha, who will be retiring
after 24 years with CX, also received a
standing ovation.
And Commercial Development Manager Corinna
Kwan presented San Francisco Airport Services
Manager Hernan Papagno with the NAM
Airport Recruitment
Initiative
award
(pictured left).
UNITED STATES
Meeting of minds at NAM conference
The India team showed their support for Atma
Mumbai – an NGO devoted to developing quality
education for the underprivileged – by taking part
in the Standard Chartered marathon on 16 January.
The marathon is one of Mumbai’s largest events
with celebrities, industrialists, entrepreneurs and
major corporations all participating.
Twenty-two CX staff, many of whom were
running in an event for the first time, participated
in the six-kilometre Dream Run.
The team had so much fun that plans are already
being made to take part in next year’s event.
INDIA
Marathon is a
runaway success
SPECIAL SKILL: Emii listens
to Hong Kong radio to help
brush up her Cantonese.
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It’s a family affair
Natasha Hameed is in the lucky position of having two
families that bring her happiness.
At home, she’s the very proud mother of Baby Smurf
– the nickname for her five-month-old son who’s the light
of her life.
At work she is a member of the CX Singapore family, and
in particular the “spakies” – a group of around 11 colleagues
who love going for spas in Bintan and Bangkok.
“The best thing about being a part of the SIN team is the
camaraderie during and after work,” says Natasha, Online
Sales Coordinator.
Having joined CX 11 years ago, straight from college,
Natasha is firmly committed to the airline. “My first and
possibly last job,” she says.
Over the years her tasks have covered most aspects of
marketing and sales, and she’s now relishing the challenges
of her current job.
“Singapore has a high online sales target this year and I’m
working alongside local marketing and pricing colleagues
to achieve our goal,” she says.
Though she doesn’t haven’t journalistic experience,
Natasha has been helping put together the SIN staff
newsletter, CXsinsight, which lets staff know what’s going on
in other departments.
When not busy at
work or looking after
Baby Smurf, Natasha
seeks
solace
in
“literary therapy”, and
is now contemplating
whether to switch to
an e-book reader.
“Email me with your
advice on which one to
buy!” she says.
BABY LOVE: Natasha
with her beloved
“Baby Smurf”.
13
One
minute with...
Zelos Ho,
Flight Attendant
1. How were you chosen
to be the Jetset TV news
anchor?
S&R champions crowned
It has been a very exciting time over
the past month for CX sportsmen
and women with the finals of the
2010 S&R Championships being
played at different venues around
Hong Kong.
The men competed in 10 events
with pool being introduced this
year. Seven events have concluded with only the tennis, squash
and pool finals yet to be held.
“The finals have produced several new champions and we have discovered
some genuine new talent within the airline,”
says S&R Chairman Nick Rhodes.
“On the men’s side the only successful de-
fender of his title so far was Chief Executive Tony
Tyler, but on the ladies’ side, Annie Loo from ISD
and Hydi Liu from Engineering defended their
titles,” he adds.
Nick says the championships were a great
success with some keenly contested finals.
“We plan to continue with the individual
S&R championships in 2011, so if you
feel you have a shot
at dethroning one of
the champions, or you
simply enjoying competing against the best,
then look out for the entry details on IntraCX,” he
says.
Angel Lam.
Vincent Leung.
Krif Ng with
Nick Rhodes.
There were auditions at the
crew lounge at CX City and I was
grabbed by the ISD communications team as I walked by.
2. So this isn’t the fulfilment
of a secret dream?
Nope, I never thought about doing news reading before.
3. What is your favourite
part?
Philip Cheung.
I get to see places in CX City
such as the audio visual studio
that crew normally don’t visit. It
provides me with a more diverse
experience apart from working
inflight.
4. What is your least favourite part?
This is only my second filming, so
it’s still very new to me.
5. Is it strange to watch
yourself on TV?
Hydi Lui (right).
SPORT
WINNER
SPORT
WINNER
Indoor rowing
Men
Women
Tony Tyler (PVO)
Angel Lam (ISD)
Bowling
Men
Women
Vincent Leung (IMT)
Annie Loo (ISD)
Table tennis
Men
Women
Krif Ng (ISD)
Hydi Lui (ENG)
Badminton
Men
Women
Rajes (ISD)
Karen Wo (ISD)
Darts
Men
Women
Sun Wing-cheung (CPCS)
Hydi Lui (ENG)
Snooker
Philip Cheung (ISD)
Golf
Stephen Ahmoye (FOP)
Tony Tyler.
A little – I’m still not used to it.
■
6. Do you watch real news
anchors for tips?
I don’t watch TV! I don’t have
time so I get updated by reading
newspapers.
7. You only started at CX
last June – do you still enjoy
travelling?
I still love travelling, but I enjoy it
more with friends because I can
relax and have fun with them.
8. What is your essential
travel accessory?
A universal adaptor.
9. Favourite place to travel?
Japan. I love the food and the
neat, beautiful way the Japanese
do things.
10. Your name is quite unusual – where does it come
from?
I love Greek myths and I found
this name online – it’s Greek for
dedication. I also think it’s quite
unusual to have an English name
that starts with Z.
14
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New Joiners
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Wendy flew with Dragonair for a year and Cathay
Pacific for two years before venturing out to gain
HR experience at LSG Sky Chef. She is delighted
to rejoin CX as a member of Personnel’s overseas
team.
“I hope my airline background and HR experience will enable me to contribute to the team,”
says Wendy.
In her spare time, Wendy enjoys reading, surfing the Internet and
playing with her two dogs – a four-year old Pomeranian called Momo and a
three-year old Labrador retriever named Mom Mom.
Alex was previously working at Foxtel in Australia
as the Data Warehouse & Reporting Development
Manager.
“I am looking forward to the challenge of building a world class enterprise data warehouse at CX,”
he says.
In his spare time, Alex enjoys travelling and
learning about new cultures. “I am very excited
about my new life in Hong Kong,” he says.
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CX World welcomes all new staff. Here is a selection of the
newcomers who recently came on board...
Wendy Tang
Personnel Officer, PNL
Alex Valkov
Enterprise Data Warehouse Lead, IMT
■
Karl Farrelly
Performance Testing Lead, IMT
Prior to joining CX, Karl worked as a Performance
Test Manager at Optus, Australia’s second largest
telecommunications provider.
“Having the opportunity to work in a new industry with new people is something that I am very
much looking forward to,” Karl says.
Karl loves spending time travelling with his family which includes a four-month-old daughter and
two-year-old son.
“I love water sports, particularly surfing and swimming. Not too sure if there
is surf in Hong Kong, but if there is I’ll find it!”
Jennifer Mak
E-service and oneworld officer, WRT
Jennifer loves travelling and did not hesitate to join
the tourism industry after graduating from school.
She has had various jobs, including working as
a travel consultant and as a ground and ticketing
staff before joining CX.
“Working here is the best way for me to talk to
different people from around the world, “ she says.
“And I’m looking forward to my first trip using my
CX subload tickets!”
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g the
Pigs really do fly!
While many customers love to take photos of themselves onboard
CX flights, one frequent flier managed to inject an element of fun by
including some rather unusual fellow passengers in the picture.
Calling himself fjiii.com, the passenger posted several photos on
the CX Facebook page of his “kids” – big McDull and big McMug
– enjoying themselves onboard CX889 from Vancouver to Hong
Kong.
“Cathay Pacific includes only one pair of headset per seat but luckily when she passed out breakfast to the kids, our flight attendant
noticed that we were short a pair and offered us a spare set from an
empty seat. Now that is service from the heart,” the passenger said.
The posting immediately garnered comments from other fans
commenting on how comfortable and happy the “kids” looked.
The passenger says he has 16 “kids” in total, all well-known Hong
Kong toys, and a few always accompany him when he travels.
“They are partial to CX!” he says.
ove durin
aff get into the gro
DANCE FEVER: St
as party.
Vancouver Christm
FROM THE HEART: Ng Wo
ng Hung
Kwan, one of the winner
s in the
ATV 2010 Hong Kong Lov
ing Hearts
Campaign, dropped by the
CX office
to redeem her prize.
BIRTHDAY SONG: Tom Wright received a musical
birthday surprise from the Indian team.
ng (left)
NEW YEAR GREETINGS: Daniel Cheu
Mr Yang
dor
assa
Amb
ese
visited Bahrain Chin
.
2011
for
es
with best wish
The Quiz
Our first prize this month is four tickets for a 45-minute Victoria Harbour
cruise on board the Aqua Luna.
Possibly the last Chinese junk
to be painstakingly handcrafted in
Hong Kong, Aqua Luna was created
using age-old designs and traditional materials by an 80-year-old local
craftsman.
This ultimate Hong Kong experience allows passengers to enjoy
Hong Kong’s famous skyline while
indulging in cocktails and snacks
in Aqua Luna’s 1,500 sq ft
cabin and al fresco decks.
For more information, go
to www.aqua.com.hk
The second prize winner will receive an Urban Disguise 50 camera bag
from ThinkTank Photo.
The bag compartment is large enough to carry a vast amount of
camera equipment, while strobes or water bottles fit easily into the side
stretch pockets.
On the inside of the front pocket is a secure secret zipped pocket with
a red lace slider for airline tickets, passports and other valuables, and the
bag also contains a rear slot for attaching to rollers when travelling.
Finally, the comfort shoulder strap has soft lining wraps around
both edges made of non-slip material.
For more information, go to www.thinktankphoto.com
To enter, visit the online quiz entry form on the CX World site.
The deadline is noon on Friday, 4 March.
SNOW BUNNIES: Staff enjoyed the delicious food and
great company during a holiday in Niseko.
ed Christmas
PARTY TIME: The LAX team celebrat
ican food.
Mex
and
ino
Filip
l,
with Chinese, Hala
ervation & Ticketing team
FAREWELL ANNE: The Paris Res
right).
(far
ier
fl
Chif
e
Ann
say goodbye to
WILD NIGHT: Captain Simon Bromley and the crew of
CX749 saw in the New Year in Johannesburg.
GREAT START:
The crew of CX
171 get ready
flight on New
for a fun
Year’s Eve.
BEACH OUTING: Dubai staf
f and families gathered at
the Mamzar beach park for
a delicious barbecue.
Island paradise
Inflight Service Manager Lynn Chen enjoyed the sights
and sounds of Canada’s picturesque Pelee Island
When I heard that Pelee, the most southernly island of Canada, is on the same
latitude as California I was very sceptical,
until I looked at a map and discovered
it was true. Since then I was looking out
for a chance to visit this island for a bit of
“California sunshine” in Canada.
Crossing Lake Erie was quite pleasant.
The lake is so shallow that even if the
ferry started to sink all we had to do was
go on the top deck which would still be
above the waterline. A very comforting
thought for those who can’t swim!
Arriving at the island, the pace of life
suddenly changed to one of pure relaxation and it was great to be able to take a
deep breath and take it all in.
We rented a cottage which was right
on the beach and ended the day by
watching the waves rolling in.
Running on the sand chasing seagulls
was like reverting back to childhood
when it was wonderful to do silly things
like that.
One of our friends is a professional
bonfire maker and he did a such a great
job building one on the beach that I
thought it would burn down the cottage.
Looking into the fire and at the stars
overhead I was suddenly very grateful
for this peaceful time with friends.
Pelee Island falls in the wine zone on
a similar latitude to Tuscany in Italy and
Provence in France.
As wine lovers, we certainly didn’t miss
out on the opportunity to visit the vine-
yard on the island. It offers a very knowledgeable wine tour and wine tasting at
the end.
We also has a barbecue at the vineyard, buying whatever we needed from
the winery deli and grilling it ourselves.
It was a very pleasant afternoon sipping
wine in the sunshine and enjoying the
good food.
Riding a bike is another way of exploring the island. The quiet roads and gravel trails lead to various nature reserves
and even a lighthouse that was rebuilt in
1833 and is a great place to take a memorable photo.
Every spring and autumn, the island
is a paradise for birdwatchers as it’s a
convenient spot on the migration path of
countless birds flying south for the winter. Monarch butterflies also use Pelee
as a rest point on their way to Mexico.
Unfortunately, our trip was too early to
catch either migration but that gives me
a great reason to visit again.
Travel
bites
■ Melbourne’s wine trail
Cathay Pacific’s wine consultant Roy Moorfield is conducting a seven day/five night
connoisseur tour of Melbourne
from 28 February-6 March, organised
by Cathay Pacific Holidays.
Priced from HK$39,000 per person, the
tour includes visits to vineyards, participating in the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
and taking part in the Duck Crawl which was
created by Roy and introduces participants
to Victorian pinot noir wines.
The price includes round-trip fares and
accommodation at the Crown Towers. More
information on Travel Desk.
■ Total immersion with the BBC
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is performing
three “Total Immersion” days at the Barbican
Hall throughout 2011 with the first being
held on 26 February.
Visitors to the February event will be introduced to the music of Bran Ferneyhough
with performances of his Second String
Quartet and Sonatas for String Quartet followed by the UK première of Ferneyhough’s
Plötzlichkeit.
The next two Total Immersion days are
9 April and 14 May. For more information go
to www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras
■ Gastronomy extravaganza
in Koh Samui
The Orient-Express beachside hideaway
Napasai in Koh Samui will be hosting an
exclusive gourmet showcase from 23-25
February.
The three-day event will showcase the
cuisine of five countries – Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Indonesia – cooked by
six top chefs from Orient-Express hotels and
resorts from each destination.
Each meal is priced separately and profits from the gourmet event will support
Thailand’s Foundation for Slum Child Care.
More information from www.napasai.com
PERFECTION: Glorious sunset over Pelee Island (main and right) while
Point Pelee National Park (top) is only a bike ride away.
Snap happy
This month’s contribution comes from Senior Purser Maria Christina Neri and shows a
lovely autumn day in New York’s Central Park.
“Autumn starts between October and November and I’m always excited to return to
New York just to experience this colourful time of the year,” she says.
Maria says the park is a retreat from the busy city and she is always awed by the brilliantly coloured leaves as she walks along
the winding trails surrounded by oak, elm
and maple trees.
“It’s a joy to simply relax on a bench viewing the placid pools with floating autumn
leaves, the turtles and ducks, watching the
squirrels, listening to the music from the
entertainers and watching people in the
horsedrawn carriages or rowing on the lake,”
Maria says.
“It’s like being in a movie or in a painting,”
she adds.
16
SHOW US YOUR TIPS!
CX World welcomes staff travel tips from
across the network – email us at CCD#SCT
HK$500 for a travel tale!
Every month, CX World invites all CX staff to
tell unusual, interesting or just downright
quirky tales of travel moments around the
world.
Sponsored by Inflight Sales, the lucky
sender of the main story receives HK$500
worth of inflight sales
products of their choice
from the ever-changing
collection of over
260 items on offer
(excluding liquor and
cigarettes).
Go shopping at
www.cathaypacific.
com/dutyfree