The Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific is offering its pilots bonuses of up to HK$29,000 (£2,700) to entice them to keep flying despite the region’s draconian quarantine demands.
Pilots who fly two “closed-loop flights” will get a HK$22,000 (£2,075) bonus, while those who fly four will get HK$29,000, according to a staff memo seen by Bloomberg News and confirmed by the airline.
A closed-loop flight involves flying back-to-back flights for three or four weeks, staying in hotel isolation between journeys, then quarantining on return to Hong Kong.
Pilots are given 14 days off after each “closed-loop” cycle and attached quarantine, but seven of those must be spent in isolation at home.
Cathay Pacific hopes that the added financial bonuses will encourage pilots to volunteer for these weeks-long shifts and keep its network in operation.
In a statement on Wednesday, the carrier said that it had “added opportunities [for pilots] to have more time away from flying after completing their loops, as well as updating their remuneration to account for changes in our schedule and operation.
“Encouraging more pilots to sign up to closed loop rosters will allow us to spread the flying tasks across more pilots while continuing to keep Hong Kong connected to the world.”
The Special Administrative Region’s strict quarantine requirements - which require a 21-day quarantine for inbound travellers, including flight crews - are in line with mainland China’s “zero Covid” policy.
The punishing cycle of flights and isolation for pilots based in the territory has seen many resign and look elsewhere for employment.
In December, one Cathay pilot told the BBC that they had spent 150 days in isolation last year.
“It’s almost a certainty that I’ll be resigning in the spring... I’m leaving without an actual job and just resigning,” another pilot told reporters.
“I would say, probably, 80 per cent of those that I fly with are actively looking for work elsewhere. It’s all we talk about.”
“A lot of colleagues are at breaking point,” a Cathay pilot who resigned after more than 15 years told the Washington Post in December. “I’m tired, and I can’t see the future.”
At least 240 Cathay pilots have quit since May, reported the Post, citing employees who reviewed internal numbers.
With Hong Kong still largely cut off from the rest of the world, Cathay Pacific has had to rely on a government bailout of HK$39bn (£3.67bn) to survive, as well as axing 6,000 jobs.
