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Sing Jet Kerosene
ICE Brent
Cathay Pacific and other compa-nies operating out of the Hong Kong hub have been submitting their opinions to the government follow-ing publication of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the proposed three runway system at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).
Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) made the report available for public inspection on 20 June and any par-ties with an interest in the develop-ment of the third runway – and the impact its construction may have – have until 19 July to submit their opinions.
The EIA report took two years to compile and involved input from lo-cal and international experts who concluded that the impacts of a three-runway system at HKIA are “acceptable given the tremendous efforts made in identifying, avoid-ing and minimising the potential impacts with extensive measures proposed”.
The AA stressed its commitment to addressing the likely environ-mental effects arising from the huge
project, with a projected budget of HK$136 billion.
More than 250 measures to “avoid, minimise, mitigate and com-pensate for potential environmental impact” have been proposed in the EIA report.
These include the creation of Hong Kong’s largest-ever marine park in north-western Lantau wa-ters, using non-dredge methods for reclamation, and various measures to reduce noise and emissions as-sociated with air traffic at the airport.
AA Chairman Vincent Lo said that HKIA is “strategically important to sustaining Hong Kong’s develop-ment and economy” and that ev-erything possible is being done to address the likely environmental impacts.
Following the public inspection period, the EIA report will be re-viewed by the Advisory Council on the Environment, whose advice will then be considered by the Di-rector of Environmental Protection as to whether the report shall be approved and an Environmental Permit granted – a process the AA
hopes can be completed in 2014. Assuming the permit is granted,
the next stages will involve com-pleting other statutory requirements and design details and finalizing the funding options. The target is to commission the three-runway sys-tem in 2023.
CX stressed its continued support for the third runway project, and its respect for environmental consid-erations, in a written submission to the Legislative Council Panel on Economic Development.
The airline stated that a third run-way is “the only viable way to en-
Government invites public opinion on publication of environmental report
Jan/14 July/14
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sure the long-term competitiveness and sustainable development of Hong Kong. It is of paramount im-portance not only to Cathay Pacific but also the entire aviation industry.”
The EIA report is at the Environ-mental Protection Department’s website, www.epd.gov.hk/eia.
OPEN FORUM: More than 700 members of the public attended forums for the EIA on 28 June.
The move to build a third runway at Hong Kong International Airport has reached a critical stage, with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for this huge project now going through the public discussion phase.
This is a crucial part of the process in the drive to enhance capacity in our home hub. The importance of achiev-ing a balance between the environ-mental considerations and economic benefits of developing a new runway should not be underestimated.
Of course, as well as limiting the environmental impact of building a third runway, we, as Hong Kong’s home airline, must be well aware of our own responsibilities towards the environment. That’s why we have been making substantial investments in quieter, more fuel-efficient aircraft at the same time as retiring older, less efficient planes.
Cathay Pacific has given its full backing for a third runway at HKIA right from the plan being first mooted. The urgency to press ahead with the project grows as our home hub gets ever closer to reaching full capacity. Hong Kong simply cannot allow its strategic strength as an aviation hub to be undermined by a failure to provide the necessary infrastructure.
Our hope now is that once the EIA has been given due consideration by all stakeholders, including the general public, the HKSAR government can give the green light for a project that will take at least another decade to complete.
The longer the third runway is delayed, the more we will lose ground to competing aviation hubs in the region that have the ability to expand at a much quicker pace. This would be detrimental to the aviation industry in Hong Kong and the local economy as businesses and tourism are lured by other cities that have the necessary infrastructure in place.
Connectivity helped to make Hong Kong what it is today and is the key to our city’s future. We now stand at the crossroads. Without a third runway we believe the long-term competitiveness and sustainable development of Hong Kong will be in jeopardy.
Ivan Chu
Chief ExecutiveMessage
As the flight test programme for Airbus’ ground-breaking A350 aircraft enters its final stages, three CX pilots enjoyed a unique opportunity to take the new bird into the air.
Director Flight Operations Richard Hall, Chief Pilot (Airbus) Chris Kempis and Manager Flying Geoff Marinko flew to Toulouse and took the controls of MSN001, the prototype A350-900, on the morning of 2 July.
All disembarked, some two hours and 30 minutes later, with huge smiles on their faces.
With the first delivery to Qatar Airways scheduled for September, Airbus is now pre-paring for the A350 route-proving campaign in late July.
At the same time the manufacturer has been inviting pilots from customer airlines to try out the aircraft ahead of its entry into service.
The aim, says Fernando Alonso, Senior Vice-President Flight & Integration Testing at Airbus, is “to demonstrate in flight the novel features of the A350 and to allow them a first-hand evaluation of the similarity in handling characteristics relative to those of the A330.”
Richard says that Flight Ops is keen to oper-ate the A350 alongside CX’s existing fleet of Airbus aircraft with a common group of pilots.
“We have a long history of mixed fleet flying between A330 and A340 aircraft and expect to bring the A350 into the fold under a similar mechanism known as a common type rating,” he says.
“Airbus is committed to the concept and as part of that process it was deemed important for us to get an early insight into just what the A350 is like.”
That process began with the 2 July flight, which was preceded by a two-hour session in an A350 development simulator under the watchful eye of Airbus Chief Test Pilot Peter Chandler.
“With a background in A330/A340 flying,
minimal preparation was required, and this sin-gle, two-hour simulator session was sufficient to prepare us for the flight,” says Chris.
Each of the pilots flew the aircraft in the Tou-louse test area at various altitudes, looking at aircraft handling under normal and non-normal conditions.
“We carried out take-offs, various types of approaches and landings and some ‘pushing of the envelope’ such as deliberately flying above the maximum design airspeed and be-low the minimum normal flying speeds to dem-onstrate the automatic protections built into the flight control system,” says Chris.
He says that the cockpit looks significantly different, “but the operational functions and in-terface are very similar, which makes flying the aircraft very intuitive.”
Geoff agrees that from a handling perspec-tive there was very little difference from the
A330 – but there are some exciting innova-tions.
“The HUD [head up-display] is particularly impressive. Essentially, it presents the entire primary flight display in your field of vision as you look out of the front window,” he says.
Richard says that for most pilots there is a thrill in being given the opportunity to operate the latest technology.
“There was a real buzz for all of us in flying an aircraft that has not yet completed its flight test programme. It’s an experience that few are privileged to have and we are extremely grate-ful to Gordon McConnell, the Airbus Chief En-gineer, and Fernando for making this happen,” Richard says.
“The A350 is delight to fly and will be enjoyed by pilots, so we need to work on ensuring that we can do so with current Airbus pilots as part of a combined fleet.”
Innovations tested as CX pilots fly the groundbreaking prototype
EARLY INSIGHT: CX pilots with Airbus personnel before the customer trial flight in Toulouse.
CX and KA’s career booth at the Hong Kong International Air-port Job Expo from 13 to 15 June attracted considerable atten-tion from the 21,000 energetic job seekers present.
Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung, Secretary for Labour and Welfare and Matthew Cheung and CEO of Hong Kong Airport Authority Stanley Hui also dropped by.
An afternoon career talk conducted by two Second Officers attracted a full-house audience.
Two weeks later, ISD organised two career workshops with mock interviews, grooming workshops and Cathay City tours for more than 100 tertiary students.
CX and KA target to recruit 1,000 and 360 cabin crew respec-tively this year, with about half of the vacancies already filled.
Attracting new talent
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they will get a seat until the flight is closed at 40 minutes prior to de-parture.
Last minute accommodation of wheelchair requests such as what you have described may be present a challenge that could ul-timately compromise on-time per-formance of the flight.
In order to avoid potential cus-tomer inconvenience, we recom-mend ID travellers using standby tickets and requiring wheelchair service to avoid trying for full flights.
Recently I’ve noticed that passengers in First and Business Class are able to watch IFE on the ground after the safety video. I asked about Economy Class and was told the IFE can only be turned on after reaching cruise. Why is there a double standard? I believe our passengers should be entitled to the same IFE regardless of class of travel.
Will Weiss, FOP
Gloria Chow, Product Manager, C & E Content, replies: Cathay Pacif-ic launched extended IFE in First and Business Class on selected aircraft on 1 April this year. Our in-tention is to eventually roll out this service to all classes.
Our research indicated that au-dio is very important in the enter-tainment experience. Headsets are required before the activation
My parents are 78 and 65 years old. For their last two trips from Seoul to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to Taipei, my father initially requested wheelchair ser-vice at check-in more than 40 min-utes before departure.Because they needed to stand by using ID tickets, when they received their boarding passes and asked for the wheelchair service again, the airport staff at Incheon said it was too late, and the staff in Hong Kong said the porter was off duty! Both gates were far from immigration. It’s really sad to hear that our ser-vice is at such levels.
Jim Tang, TPE
Russ Fortson, Manager Customer Services & Product Development – Airports replies: Thank you for raising this concern and we are sorry to learn of the difficulties your parents faced when travelling on ID tickets. Our Airport teams are committed to delivering the high-est level of service to all customers, including ID travellers.
All customers requesting as-sistance on the basis of disability, either permanent or temporary, are to be accommodated regardless of ticket type.
The challenge typically faced with ID travellers requiring this ser-vice when travelling on standby on full flights is that we do not know if
On 6 June, CX110 departed Sydney without IFE in all classes. It was a completely full day flight. As the flight’s Inflight Service Manager, I would like to express my gratitude to all departments involved for their excellent support.
On this flight, despite the lack of IFE, passen-gers were quite happy to read newspapers and books, fill out crosswords puzzles, watch their own movies on their personal devices, work on emails and talk to crew members. The majority of our pas-sengers understood the implications of a delayed flight and would rather go without IFE instead of missing their flight connections.
I would like to specially thank all Sydney ground staff for their support. Their quick decision to send two of their staff to get as many magazines and newspapers from the nearest airport shops for the affected passengers was stellar, as was their initia-tive to inform passengers in the waiting lounge of the problem with the IFE to minimalise potential complaints.
The winner of the CX World Star Letter scores a bottle of Château Hanteillan Haut Medoc Cru Bourgeois 2010.
The history of the Château Hanteillan dates back to the 12th century. The 2010 vintage has an expressive nose of currants and cassis with liquorice, pepper and red fruit aromas.
The palate offers roundness with ripe tannins. Soft black fruit characters are followed by an attractive structure. It is perfect with roast meat, and also with hard cheese.
ISD will be offering a bottle of wine from CX’s Business Class selection every month for the Star Letter winner, so watch this space!
The crew of CX110 (Keiko, Jayvin, Dary, An-dreas, Queena, Luna, Connie, Alice and Edward) accepted the challenge with a happy attitude and were willing to go the extra mile to deliver “Service Straight from the Heart” without losing their stamina or can-do attitude. They even managed to recruit new Asia Miles members!
Captain Glenn Bridgland, FO Angus and SO Tessa supported the cabin crew by sending and receiving ACARS, and considering the crew’s well-being when we reached our maximum flight duty period.
The ground staff in Hong Kong distributed ser-vice recovery vouchers to all passengers and han-dling their missed flights connections smoothly.
Lastly, thanks to CCC and IOC – although they are behind the scenes, their understanding and support is crucial to the success of how we handle
these situations. Thank you for this brilliant show of CX’s
team spirit! Gria Ngandani, ISD
companion slot back? After all, this modification is supposed to improve our benefits. Given that single staff are already short on extra FOC tickets, I feel that it’s fair for us to be allowed to release the companion slot, if our current nominee is someone eligible to register as a family member.
Revenue staff
Jessica Chan, Manager People Services, replies: Thank you – your comments are fair and we will give this due consideration and commu-nicate details towards the end of this year.
CX Cargo has always relied on Vogue Laundry for laundry services. But ever since the Cargo team moved from SuperTerminal 1 to the new CPCT, the cleanliness of the laundered items is not the same.
of the IFE system. Due to man-power constraints, we are not able to preset headsets in Economy and Premium Economy classes consistently before takeoff. Hence, we’ve launched this service in First and Business Class first for now and are actively resolving the man-power issues which will enable ex-tended IFE service in all cabins.
With the new staff travel scheme, each staff is entitled to four slots instead of two for family members. However, some of us have previously nominated our siblings (or other eligible family members) as our companion. With the next reset a year away, would People consider allowing us to release and re-register that nominee as a family member so we can have our
A longtime CX fan wrote in to thank the Delhi Airport team for taking care of his colleague.
The colleague was booked on CX694 from Delhi to Hong Kong in March, on a day when torrential rain and thunderstorms delayed all flights in Hong Kong.
The passenger was a oneworld Emerald member, and was going to fly in Premium Economy while her daughter was due to fly in Economy.
The pair waited in the lounge after initially being told that their flight was going to be delayed for 1.5 hours.
When it later became clear that the aircraft was still stuck in Hong Kong and that the delay would be closer to five hours, the Delhi team proactively approached the passengers to offer them a room at the transit hotel for four hours to get some rest.
The team also informed the passengers of the flight’s progress every step of the way.
An aircraft with a regional configuration finally flew to Delhi for CX694.
The passenger was upgraded to Business Class while her daughter was seated in the first row of Economy.
“Weather situations such as this are clearly out of any airline’s control, but what your team did in Delhi is just one example of many that further cements my loyalty after a decade of flying Cathay Pacific,” the letter read.
“It is occurrences like this – when you take a potential customer service disaster and convert it into a complete winner – that makes me not only seek to fly CX, but also vociferously and publicly promote CX to all my friends and colleagues,” he added.
He went as far as to say that if anything were to go wrong with his travels, he hoped it would be with CX because he knows it would be taken care of beyond his expectations.
Well done, Delhi airport team!
Growing the Dragonair family
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Good vibrations
The fragrant smell of the cleansed items has been replaced by a more unpleasant smell. Also, collars and sleeves come back with stains. This is especially apparent on our male colleagues’ white shirts.
This situation has been ongoing for a year with no sign of improvement. Also, cleaned Cargo uniforms are no longer encased in plastic bags, so it’s common to find bits of dust clinging onto our uniforms. If it was an environmental matter, why are other CX uniforms still wrapped in plastic bags after washing?
Even though Cargo staff are less in direct contact with customers or passengers, there’s still a chance that we’ll meet external parties when we work, and a clean set of uniform is crucial to our morale and mental wellbeing.
Cargo staff
Peter Lee, Director & General Manager Vogue Laundry, replies: Thanks for your comments. The longer a uniform item is worn, the more likely its texture will be damaged by repeated using and washing, which makes stains and smells difficult to remove.
The situation can be more serious at departments with demanding working conditions, such as Cargo Hub – for instance, it can get hot on the ramp.
Regular, reasonable uniform replacements are essential and can be the solution.
It is not currently possible for Vogue Laundry or uniform managers to trace the lifetime, usage and washing frequency of older uniforms items, such as the white shirt you mentioned.Only newer Cargo Hub uniforms – dispatched after the move from Hactl to CPCT – are equipped with RFID tags.
Once all uniforms can be traced with RFID technology, we can manage their usage and washing frequency better.
There also seems to be a perception that items without plastic bags are less clean. In fact, extra protective covers are put on the trolleys containing uniforms to ensure hygiene and cleanliness during their journey between Vogue and the uniform depot.
Reducing plastic bag usage is one of the many sustainability commitments that the Swire Group has made to Hong Kong.
Apart from Cargo Hub, uniforms for CPCS and CPSL are also delivered without plastic bags.
Plastic bags for CX and KA uniforms will also be removed when new depots at CX City and KA House are made available to Vogue.
By then, 24-hour auto drop-off services for uniform items will also be available.
When she’s off duty, Dragonair’s Executive Secretary Esther Lau (pictured top) plays the drums and the horn as a member of the Salvation Army band.
Esther, who’s been a member since she was a child, says: “Our band performs in residential public areas, elderly and disabled care homes, and also on the street. Christmas carols and Easter hymns are our specialty!”
Esther finds contentment in offering free music to the public.
Of her most treasured memory, she says: “Our band performed at a disabled care home in Sheung Shui at Christmas. Everyone enjoyed the music and one of the patients, who was unable to move, smiled happily when she watched our performance through a mirror placed beside her. Her beaming face was the best reward for our band.”
Esther is also actively involved in a wide range of volunteer activities. She has organised summer day camps for children in the past, and was the leader of a group of volunteers during a recent flag day.
“Some people may think that giving back to society requires a lot of time and energy,” says Esther.
“Instead, simply pay more attention to the people around you and be ready to lend a hand. A small effort may already be big enough to warm the hearts of the needy.”
The recruitment and develop-ment of cabin crew is Dragonair’s current focus as its rapid expansion continues.
To deal with increasing operational needs, KA plans to recruit a total of 360 cabin crew by the end of this year.
The most recent recruitment day, held in early May, attracted close to 500 applicants. KA also advertised job opportunities at the HKIA Job Expo from 13 to 15 June.
KA ISD is also working non-stop to offer carefully designed training courses. “Our crew receive customised training at different stages of their careers with us, including language training, sales skills, emergency handling and leadership,” says Head of Cabin Crew & Service Delivery Mi-chelle Cheng.
The airline also extends career development opportunities to outport-based staff.
The first two batches of Shanghai-based Flight Pursers recently com-pleted an intensive training programme to enhance their inflight service skills.
“We are happy to see the KA family continue to grow,” says Michelle. “The next round of write-in and walk-in recruitment sessions in Hong Kong will be held in early August – I’m looking forward to welcoming more new faces!”
An eEnabled Aircraft is the generic term for a connected aircraft that links information systems on the aeroplane with ground systems. In the case of CX, this means a fleet of 175 aircraft, each fitted with four Electronic Flight Bags (EFB), using a new type of SATCOM and other communication channels, including wireless communications.
Truly global connectivity between the air and CX ground systems is at the heart of the eEnabled Aircraft concept. Thanks to more relevant information being captured, displayed and transmitted, replacing today’s paper documents, CX is able to improve its services.
CX has one of the most advanced airline-developed eEnabled solutions in the world, with full-time, globally connected EFBs for all flight deck and cabin crew linked to the aircraft’s Flight Management System.
Security is paramount. The programme has been certified by the FAA, and is still heavily regulated under the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department’s Operational Evaluation, which began on 1 July.
During the evaluation, both digital and paper systems are used in parallel.
CX targets to roll out the eEnabled programme to a fleet of 175 aircraft by 2017, covering many planes in the existing fleet plus next-generation aircraft, which will be delivered to the airline with EFBs already installed by the manufacturer.
This started with the Boeing 777-300ERs and will spread to the Airbus A330s and 747 freighters. The A330s and A320/1s in the passenger fleet of Dragonair will also be covered progressively.
In time, we will become reliant on our eEnabled world – it will be “normal”
in the same way that a PC is used in the office in place
of writing letters.
This is an industry term for a device that replaces the large flight bag carried by pilots with charts, manuals and flight plans inside.
EFBs are digital and more dynamic than printed documents. With EFBs, flight crew have more up-to-date, comprehensive information, such as pre-programmed alternative approaches to runways, which save time and improve decision-making. Most airlines are using tablets that do not connect with the aircraft systems or ground systems inflight. For CX, the device is fully connected to both types of systems.
There are three fixed EFB devices in the flight deck and one in the cabin.
The eTech Log app on the flight deck EFB devices is the replacement for the AML technical log completed by the flight crew. eTech Log has an aircraft component that sends data about defects to the ground, as well as a ground component that engineers use to monitor faults and reliability in real time.
The EFB in the cabin contains the eCabin Log, the replacement for the paper CDML cabin defect log. Cabin crew can enter, review history and track cabin defects along with their resolution. Cabin defects are sent via satellite in real time to the destination airport ahead of the aircraft’s arrival. With the eCabin Log, defects can reach the Engineering team during the flight, so they can save time on investigation and can fix defects according to their priority and the time available, which minimises potential ground delays.
2
Global connectivity: Iridium is the replacement SATCOM for Inmarsat, with smaller, lighter antennae causing less drag, along with full global coverage, ensuring constant communication between ground systems and the aircraft.
Wi-Fi onboard: Cabin crew will have access to secure Wi-Fi throughout the cabin to connect CX mobile devices to the
eEnabled systems.
Cabin crew will have tablet devices to access important passenger information and other services so that they can provide even better services.
The tablet devices contain three main components: an electronic version of the Passenger Information List (PIL), an electronic version of certain cabin forms,
as well as an app which allows senior crew members to view onboard manuals and other relevant reference
information.
3
Our aircraft will integrate with our ground operations to ensure a regular two-way information flow based on message priority and cost.
For example, for future inflight sales, credit card terminals can be connected to ground systems and this will help to reduce the risk of credit-card fraud.
Another example is safety records – downloads of all safety data can automatically be transferred to the corporate database on arrival at the terminal in Hong Kong.
Wi-Fi onboard Our cabin crew have access to Wi-Fi to connect issued mobile devices to the eEnabled network.
EFBs Three Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) are in the cockpit and one is in the cabin. These touchcreen devices are supplied by DAC International.
Cabin crew tablets Our cabin crew will have tablet devices to access key passenger information and other supporting services.
Security Public key encryptions, passwords, certificates and digital signatures will be used to ensure data privacy and the authentication of aircraft/devices.
Global connectivity Communication is at the heart of the eEnabled design and allows connectivity anywhere around the world at all times.
4
CX has recently launched a pilot on the cathaypacific.com website called “Enhance” where selected passengers can bid for upgrades to Premium Economy or Business Class.
The Enhance pilot, launched on 12 June, will last for a five-month period and covers selected flights to and from Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, France, the UK, Moscow, USA and Canada.
“Today Cathay Pacific is operating flights where there are vacant seats in the premium cabins while Economy is often full. What this presents is a missed opportunity to capitalise on available and high
A new tool has been introduced to more than 750 sales staff that has the potential to completely change the way they work.
The tool, called Sales Force Au-tomation (SFA), is one of the first cloud solutions to be used by CX. It’s a centralised portal, accessible via electronic devices and PCs, that meets many salespersons’ needs.
It’s part of an initiative to introduce to sales a new way of working: us-ing the tool to help drive a good cadence in sales processes, which can then be objectively assessed.
“Currently, our 300-odd corpo-rate sales staff are supported by 14 people back at headquarters, not to mention our agency teams,” says Manager Global Sales Nelson Chin. “Without proper, systematic
support, teams tend to adopt their own practices.”
“The idea is to encourage a prop-er sales rhythm that enables mean-ingful sales discussions internally, and helps us provide a consistent experience for external clients,” Nel-son adds. “It’s also a tool that drives efficiency and effectiveness, and allows us to manage and measure the performance of sales teams and individuals.”
Staff will then be recognised and rewarded as part of PDMP (or Per-formance & Development Manage-ment Process), a company-wide staff review programme.
For a start, the tool encourages smarter portfolio management. The tool’s analytics and dashboard sys-tem lend transparency: staff can
monitor their own performance by logging their activities, and super-visors can manage better by re-warding good work, coaching more effectively and redeploying staff ac-cording to their talents.
Other functionalities include a centralised database of accounts, contacts and leads that can be ac-cessed by global sales teams; an auto-fill function for proposals and contracts; and automated reports and reminders.
“Right now our salespeople are spending time on administrative tasks that could be cut down if they’re using SFA – that’s extra time that could be spent on client meet-ings or looking for new business,” says Nelson.
For example, the new centralised database allows staff to access information on existing leads and
accounts quickly without having to go through separate emails and spreadsheets saved on their office desktops or shared drives. This is especially useful for collaboration between outports.
The verdict is coming in from sales teams that have implemented the tool. “We started automating our weekly activity reports and it’s cut down tonnes of emails,” says Sebastien Granier, Sales Manager Eastern USA. “Chatter, the tool’s built-in chat function, is great for open discussions.”
SFA rolled out in Hong Kong and North America in mid-May and Southwest Pacific, Japan, Korea and Taiwan in late June. The re-maining regions – China, Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia – will get to ex-perience the tool from 23 July.
margin inventory,” says Manager Channel Development Andrea Cartwright.
“For some time now, our passengers have been offered alternative ways to upgrade from Economy or Premium Economy besides using their Asia Miles,” she adds.
“This process has been a highly manual one: local Reservations offices would call eligible passengers a few days before departure and offer them the chance to upgrade from their class of travel for a flat rate cash fee.”
In common with other airlines that already offer bidded upgrades to their customers, CX is piloting an
online-based platform which gives customers and MPO members the chance to bid for single sector upgrades to the next higher class of cabin.
Eligible customers are invited to place an offer for their booked flights via the CX website prior to their departure date. If their offer is successful, they will be advised around two days prior to departure.
The benefits for CX are multiple: commercially, it maximises utili-sation and increases incremental revenue and passenger yield for flights.
From a customer’s point of view, Enhance offers greater exposure of premium cabins and offers
alternative, more systematic ways for customers to receive an upgrade.
CX is running the limited pilot to gauge commercial viability, and how attractive the offering is to MPO members and CX customers.
The Enhance platform is very configurable with respect to allocation and timeline to accommodate any type of travel needs.
Should CX decide to fully commercialise Enhance, staff engagement will take place as part of project due diligence.
As of press time, Enhance was proving most popular on flights between Hong Kong and Perth.
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PROCESS CHANGE: The team in New York is vocal about their love for SFA, a new tool that will usher in a new way of conducting sales at the airline.
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“I Can Fly” members took on a spirit of philanthropy recently when they executed 10 social service projects that they designed themselves.
In support of the “Bless Hong Kong” campaign launched by the Hong Kong government’s Com-mission on Poverty, this year’s 500 members are all less-advantaged students nominated by headmas-ters, teachers and social workers.
To encourage the students to give back to the community, they were tasked with designing social service projects for local NGOs and schools, which took place on 21 and
22 June. Activities ranged from a treasure
hunt at the airport to Cathay City visits. One of the groups designed a detective-themed fun day for Home Care for Girls, a local charity.
Players had to acquaint them-selves with aviation factoids at checkpoints in CX City and use the knowledge to win a detective game. The interactive activities were de-signed to give the players a taste of the aviation industry.
“I Can Fly” member Mars Tam, 15, says the service projects were a test of teamwork and communica-
tion skills. “I’ve never had to organise an event with 50 other people before – that took a lot of patience and cooperation!” he says.
Mars says the “I Can Fly” programme has brought him closer to his dreams.
“I’ve always wanted to be an airline pilot, ever since I was a boy,” Mars says. “Activities like touring CX City and HAECO have been very special for me.”
For the aspiring pilot, the best is yet to come – in July he will fly to Flight Training Adelaide in Australia
to experience flight in the cockpit and interact with CX cadet pilots.
“It’ll be my first time to learn how to fly an aircraft,” he says. “I can’t wait!”
Flying inevitably releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere through the combustion of fossil fuel burn. While significant progress has been made to improve the fuel and carbon efficiency of modern aircraft, there are few viable alternative energy sources to power commercial aircraft.
What can we do about our CO2 emissions from air travel?To help passengers and staff reduce their CO2 emissions from travel, in 2007 CX and KA became the first airlines in Asia to offer a carbon offseting service through the FLY greener programmme.
How does carbon offsetting work?When passengers buy carbon credits via FLY greener, CO2 emissions generated from their flight are reduced (“offset”) elsewhere. The money spent is used to support projects that reduce or prevent CO2 emissions. Currently, these include a wind farm and a hydro power station that replaces coal-fired ones, both in Guangdong in China.
The CO2 reduced as a result of these projects is measured and rigorously checked against an international standard before they can be sold as carbon credits. Each credit will only be used once.
What are other benefits of these projects?In addition to carbon benefits, CX and KA look for projects that also support local communities, such as those that improve local air quality, create employment opportunities, and provide a reliable supply of electricity that facilitates local development.
How can I support FLY greener?Go to the FLY greener website www.cathaypacific.com/flygreener and follow the simple steps to calculate the carbon footprint of your flights. You can pay by cash or Asia Miles. CX/KA also purchase offsets for all staff duty travel. What else are we doing to manage our CO2 emissions?CX and KA are committed to working with their partners in managing their carbon emissions. Read more about it at www.cathaypacific.com/sdreport.
One of the most exciting sporting events in town is back! The 24-hour Charity Pedal Kart Grand Prix will be held at Victoria Park on 22 and 23 November this year.
This annual charitable event has been part of Cathay Pacific’s sporting calendar for decades now. Over the years, it has re-ceived incredible support from staff across many departments.
The CX squad this year will consist of two men’s teams, a ladies’ team and a fun team, totalling some 100 members.
The race has never just been about winning. The ultimate aim is to raise money for those in need, with pro-
ceeds going to charities supported by the Hong Kong Round Table, which are mostly charitable organisations from Hong Kong, Mainland China and the rest of Asia.
All staff – from keen cyclists to amateurs – are welcome to ap-ply. A large number of helpers from CX, KA and CPCS are also needed for coordination, logistics and cheering on the race day.
The application deadline for pedallers and helpers is 26 Sep-tember. If interested please contact Aina at [email protected], Brian at [email protected] or John at [email protected].
There will be a roadshow on The Street at Cathay City from 4 to 8 August for those who want to submit their applications or learn more in person. Selections for the men’s teams and ladies’ team will be held in late September.
Overseas staff and flight crew have to join at their own ex-pense and will need to arrange the necessary leave or roster change.
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Operations have been running smoothly at the Cathay Pacific Car-go Terminal since Cathay Pacific Services Limited (CPSL) started providing a full spectrum of car-go handling services in Octo-ber last year.
The cargo operator reached another milestone recently by taking up a new role as the cargo handling agent for external cus-tomers.
New agreements secured with AirAsia and Royal Brunei mean CPSL has started providing cargo handling operations and doc-umentation for 42 AirAsia flights and six Royal Brunei flights each week.
CPSL Chief Executive Officer Algernon Yau, pictured top right, is delighted to gain the vote of confidence from AirAsia, as the new cargo terminal was constructed as a common cargo facility serving all carriers at HKIA.
“We‘ve been actively exploring opportuni-ties to extend our service
to other airlines and will continue our efforts to
maximise capacity utilisation,” Alger-
non says. “Ul-timately, it is
our goal
to raise overall industry standards and support the growth of all
customer airlines using the terminal’s services.”
Algernon explains that CPSL’s key business strategy is to provide tai-lored services to custom-ers.“Before commencing the
service, we walked through a series of arrangements with the
airline’s representatives, refining our standard procedures to meet their special re-quirements,” he says.
“Also, operational trials covering ware-house operating system functions, as well as cross-departmental workflows and proce-dures, were conducted to ensure full readi-ness.”
Another new development at CPSL is the launch of in-house freighter ramp handling services from July onwards. This will help the terminal provide one-stop services to all freighter carriers operating in Hong Kong and achieve maximum efficiency in the overall cargo handling process.
CPSL is in the process of recruiting extra manpower to suit this purpose. The cargo ter-minal has created about 1,800 job opportuni-ties so far, including some 600 staff recruited by CPSL and 1,200 sub-contracted staff.
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HIT BY TURMOIL: This photo of Bangkok protesters was taken outside the CX Town Office last December.
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Inspired by the company’s search for a new inflight signature drink, the Manila team held its first mixology contest for young high flyers.
Travelling to Japan, Qatar, the UK and Maldives in one night might be physically impossible, but thanks to a unique “flight” arranged by the Manila team, a small group of young Marco Polo Club members were able to get a glimpse of these countries thanks to a unique cocktail event held on 9 May.
To recreate the ambience of a CX flight, each guest was welcomed with a refreshing towel and a local version of the Cathay Delight drink upon arrival.
Country Manager Philippines Martin Xu welcomed the members to the first Marco Polo event of the year, noting that some members may have been travelling with Cathay Pacific since they were kids.
Four specially created drinks inspired by new CX destinations were introduced and served over the course of the evening, marking the “arrival” at each new country.
A cocktail mixology contest was organised and members were invited to create a drink that best captured the spirit of their favourite destination.
Members took the challenge quite seriously, trying different
blends of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to come up with cocktails that looked and tasted good.
The winning concoction ,“Sake Sunrise”, a sweet mix of two different kinds of sake and grenadine and garnished with cherry and orange, was created by Diamond Member Kevin Te who was inspired by the vibrant hues of an Osaka sunrise.
The Moscow team went self handling on 1 May after the launch of the service almost four years ago. The team now has a central office in town after extensive renovations that they managed themselves.
Country Manager Russia Patrick Garrett is shown putting the finishing touches to the office – glueing the CX logo on the back wall of the Reservation & Ticketing Office!
The local team also hosted an office opening party attended by GM Europe Angus Barclay.
The Indonesia Cargo team recently hosted the country’s top agents on a familiarisation tour to Hong Kong. The programme included a visit to the new cargo terminal and an award presentation luncheon
The Marketing team in Korea sponsored the gala dinner of 2nd Annual Culinary Art @ JW, a month-long event in May that showcased six visiting chefs who have eight Michelin stars between them.
CX extended invitations to the sumptuous feast to seven top-tier Marco Polo Club members, along with their partners. Everyone enjoyed the fantastic food and the company of local team members and Country Manager Korea Mark Ng.
Mark is pictured with the winner of the CX-sponsored prize ticket and the hotel’s Director of Food & Beverage Matthias Widor.
back at headquarters. Director Cargo James Woodrow presented awards to the agents, joined by Cargo Manager Jakarta Madi Dewanto, to thank them for their support in the past year.
Teams in Thailand breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Hong Kong SAR Government’s travel alert for Thailand was adjusted to Amber when CX World went to press.
Life in the office has not been easy for the Thailand team, which for months found itself quite literally in the middle of the country’s political unrests.
The political upheaval began in 2013 in late October. Several months of street protests across Bangkok led to the dissolution of the parliament, failed attempts to hold a nationwide general election, the announcement of a 60-day state of emergency by the government and the declaration of martial law by the military.
The photo below was taken right outside the Cathay Pacific office last December, when more than 100,000 protestors marched past the Town Office, chanting and blowing whistles.
“The street we’re located in is a prime area for protests. Although the protests have mostly been very peaceful, there were week-long concerts for protestors lasting from afternoon till midnight right in front of our office. We ‘enjoyed’ an extended period of extremely loud music at work – and at home as well for me, as I live very close to the office!” says Country Manager Thailand Leslie Lu.
Leslie notes that the country’s political development had taken many highly unpredictable turns over the past seven months. “Protestors’ plans and political developments are always evolving at the last minute. Information from the media is sometimes unclear and contradictory,” says Leslie.
The local team’s priority and challenge has rested on staying alert at all times, keeping abreast of the latest developments and setting working assumptions for different situations.
They also had to work with authorities and internal departments to ensure the soundness of its operations and the safety of passengers and staff.
This included preparing contingencies for moving the crew hotel or closing down the Town Office in times of uncertainty.
“The local team is trying its very best to stimulate ex-Bangkok demand to compensate for the drop of inbound travellers from other sales territories,” says Leslie.
“We’re grateful for the support from all operational and commercial teams over the past few months – it was truly excellent teamwork!”
San Francisco’s Carol Hom has been an avid social dancer for 25 years.
The Sales Executive’s passion traces back to a childhood incident. “I was not selected for a school play because I didn’t know ballet. I was crushed and that memory still saddens me a little bit,” Carol says. “But I know I can dance, and I’ve make up for it with a lifetime of movement!”
To Carol, the best thing about dancing is the feeling of freedom. “Dancing is a great form of exercise with elegant movements, beautiful music and good company,” she says.
Over time, Carol focused on Argentine Tango, which she feels is more disciplined compared to other social dances. She’s now a tango instructor after years of tireless practice.
Her tips for beginners? “Patience and consistency is key, and learning music is a must. Good attitude is a good start, and, for ladies, the ability to wear high heels comfortably is always a plus!” Carol grins.
The dancer hopes to have her own studio one day. “It’s also my dream to dance with a top-notch theatre company on a world-famous stage,” she adds.
“I would love to dance at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC or Carnegie Hall in New York. One can dream, right?”
Carol’s passion is a far cry from her day job of developing corporate accounts for CX, where she has been for the past 16 years.
“It is natural for me to join the travel industry as I can speak fluent Mandarin, Cantonese and a bit of Japanese and Korean,” Carol says. “Of course I do enjoy the staff travel benefits, which enables me to go back home to Asia and explore the world easily.”
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PASSIONATE DANCER: San Francisco’s Carol Hom spent the last 25 years polishing her social dance skills.
Denpasar-based Sherly Pemilia spends most of her spare time near the egg beater and oven at home.
“I enjoy baking cakes and cookies with my daughter,” the Sales Executive says. “Baking is a good way for me to connect with my family and friends as I share my homemade treats with them.”
Her signature sweet treat is the decadent-sounding red velvet cheesecake brownie.
“It’s my all time favourite – imagine fudgy brownies topped with cream cheese frosting!” Pemilia enthuses. “It looks and tastes fabulous, which makes it a real treat for your loved ones.”
Instead of strictly following cookbooks and online recipes, the self-styled pâtissier loves creating new flavours to surprise her friends and colleagues.
At work, Sherly also offers warm hospitality to travellers visiting Bali.
Her most memorable experience at CX was helping a passenger score a seat to see his ailing mother when most flights departing the city were full.
“My team tried very hard and managed to get him a seat at last. He was so thankful and gave the whole team a big hug – I will never forget his tearful smile.”
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Colleagues in the Mainland showed up at work in fancy dress on 27 June in the name of the environment.
Organisers of the second China Dress Cool Day invited more than 700 colleagues from 22 ports in China to submit their environmental pledges and photos of their costume with the hashtag “#China Dress Cool Day #’ onto their Sina Weibo accounts.
The top 10 participants whose photos had the most “likes” scored sets of tickets to Hong Kong.
This year, the revelry spread to external parties as well, with corporate clients and PR agents also invited to join.
The top winners were Shi Hui and Iris Wang, both from Burson Marsteller, and Jessie Han from the Shanghai team.
The event was also a farewell for former GM China Dane Cheng and his assistant Eva Ng.
The Colombo Cargo team bonded with agents over bowling in late May. Representatives from 15 agencies, Country Manager Anna Choi and local staff formed separate teams for a friendly competition. Winners scored CX branded souvenirs and everyone had a fantastic time.
Separately, the Sri Lankan Management team celebrated SriLankan’s induction into oneworld at a reception at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport and a dinner at Jetwing Blue Negombo on 30 April.
On June 11, the 11th Cathay Pacific Business Award was held at Milan’s Palazzo Regione with almost 600 people attending. This year’s award recognised the energy demonstrated by participating Italian companies, and true to the theme of the event, the venue buzzed with a lively energy. Awards were given out for categories including “creativity”, “dynamism”, “innovation”, “know-how” and “social responsibility”. Special awards are also given for female entrepreneurs. GM Europe Angus Barclay hosted the event.
The Singapore team recently proved that work and fun can co-exist when they hosted workshops for staff from the local ground handling agency.
The focus was 2014 priorities – one of which was PSS Phase 2 – and three sessions were held to accommodate more than 100 staff.
Other topics covered included safety and security, service excellence, disruption handling and how the GHA team was important to CX.
All of this was combined with great food, lots of interaction and team-building games.
The CX team also conducted more than five Asia Miles sessions to brief GHA staff on selling techniques. The result was an impressive 5,000 recruitments in a month – compared to around 500 per month previously!
Music and piloting are worlds apart for most people, but not to Second Officer Thomas Chiu, who’s a music director when he steps away from the cockpit.
Thomas’ musical talents were evident from a very young age – he performed in public for the first time as a session pianist in a radio programme in Hong Kong before he was 13.
After high school, Thomas stud-ied music on scholarships at two leading US universities.
“I majored in music writing and also learned conducting, orchestra-tion and music education training,” says Thomas. “My main instruments are the drums and the piano, but my university training helped me understand the characteristics and range of different musical instru-
ments, which is essential to music directing.”
Last month, Thomas conducted the musical 13 at his alma mater, Australian International School Hong Kong.
“Directing a musical at AISHK was a homecoming of sorts. It’s where my passion for music started,” says Thomas.
The musical 13 is filled with youth-ful optimism, following the story of Evan Goldman, a Jewish boy from New York City, as he goes through family disputes and social problems at his new school in Indiana.
The musical premiered in Los An-geles in 2007, opened on Broadway in 2008 and was staged in various cities around the world.
This was Thomas’ fourth directing gig – before 13, he had already di-
rected High School Musical in Aus-tralia and Songs for a New World and Parade, both in the US.
As a music director, Thomas’ role goes beyond managing performances.
“Take 13 for example: I took part in the audition, arranged one-on-one practice sessions for the leading actors, edited the original music for better musical expression and trained the choir,” he says. “Most importantly, I had to assure all the actors and musicians that I had their back throughout the show.”
Thomas could draw similarities between music directing and flying an aircraft.
“Being a pilot and music training both require passion and the deter-mination to attain immaculate tech-
nique,” he says. Now that the curtains have been
drawn on 13, Thomas is busy again – this time as a pilot leader in CX’s signature CSR programme, “I Can Fly”. “Music and flying are the two biggest joys of my life and I’d love to pass this on to the kids,” he says.
MULTI-TALENTED: Second Officer Thomas Chiu, pictured top, during a recent performance of musical “13”.
1. When did you begin act-ing on stage? I’ve been involved in drama since I left secondary school.
2. How did you get started? My mum is a Cantonese Opera singer who’s good enough to be a professional. I guess I have the performance gene!
3. What was your most un-forgettable performance? Some of my more memorable roles include Maria in The Sound of Music, Joanne Galloway in A Few Good Men, Bernarda Alba in House of Bernarda Alba, Laura in Glass Menagerie, Gerda in The Hollow and Li Ningyu, the heroine of The Message.
4. What other roles would you like to play?Roles with a more complicated emotional span like Blanche Du-bois in A Streetcar Named Desire.
5. What makes a good actress? It’s not about how beautiful or spectacular you are on stage, but the ability to capture the play’s themes by playing a specific role.
6. What’s the biggest side benefit of acting? I learned to appreciate literature in a whole new way.
7. What stage actor/actress do you admire most? Meryl Streep and Mary Steenbur-gen.
8. What else are you passionate about?The seven dogs in my life: a terrier, a chihuahua, a beagle and a Siberian husky. I currently have a papillon, another Siberian husky and a little mutt.
9. Why dogs? They love and support the human race, and stick with you through good times and bad.
10. What’s your favourite destination? Japan for the hospitality and safety.
The Inflight Services and Airport football teams indulged in a bit of friendly rivalry with Air China during a friendly tournament in Beijing recently.
General Manager Inflight Services James Ginns and Cabin Crew Operations Support Manager Edwin Cheung led the CX del-egation, which included 23 crew.
The three-day trip, which began on 13 June, kicked off with a visit to Air China’s headquarters.
Air China’s GMIS Huang Zong Ying and her colleagues wel-comed the CX team with a tour of their training facilities for crew.
“I was fascinated by Air China’s safety training centre, which was equipped with a motion mock-up. It’s just like being inside a real aircraft!” says CX Flight Attendant Tony Tang.
“During ditching, I could feel everything shaking but when I looked out of the windows, I realised we were just floating at sea level.”
CX ISD went on to win in matches against the CA ISD and Air-port teams in a tremendous display of team spirit.
CX Flight Attendant Vincent Cheng was the tournament’s MVP.After the matches, the CX teams were treated to a buffet lunch
with players and officials from Air China.
Carrom fever gripped the Mumbai Town Office in April and May this year as staff got ready for a tournament organised by FunCX, the local team’s recreational club.
Carrom is an indoor game, wildly popular in South Asia, that’s a combination of billiards, marbles and air hockey.
It is a game that requires a combination of mental skill, determination, accuracy and precision.
In the weeks leading up to the tournament, participants stayed back after work for practice sessions and sought help from experts. Some even squeezed practice time between lunch breaks.
“Many of the matches that our staff played were thrilling and had nail-biting finishes that were absolutely unexpected,” says Gunavanti Kotian, a huge fan of the game who was present for most sessions.
In the end, Rakesh Raicar took gold in the men’s singles, while Siddhant Iyer and Gaurav Kapoor teamed up to win the men’s doubles.
The women’s singles champion was Nayna Rao, while Desiree Dubier and Supriya Kamath won the women’s doubles together.
SHOW US YOUR TIPS!CX World welcomes staff travel tips from across the network – email us at CCD#SCT
Take a ride on the Deutsche Bahn at discounted rates this year.
From now until 12 December, CX staff get to enjoy the reduced prices of EUR 59 in second class and EUR 99 in first class.
These prices include a one-way ticket for two adults or a round-trip ticket for one adult. In both cases, children aged up to 14 years who are members of the family travel free of charge.
Tickets can be booked up to one day before travel date.
For details check out the “Staff Offers” tab on IntraCX.
When in Penang, why not consider a stay at the beachside Copthorne Orchid Hotel?
Located at the popular Tanjung Bungah (Flower Cape) beach, the hotel is one of the nearest beach hotels to the city of George Town. It’s also close to several attractions in Penang, such as the Batu Ferringhi Night Market, Batu Ferringhi Beach, Gurney Drive, Gurney Plaza, Gurney Paragon and Spice Garden.
CX staff are offered a discount of RM160 per night for a standard room, and RM180 per night for a superior room.
More on the “Staff Offers” tab on IntraCX.
Run a marathon with Mount Fuji looming over the course and beautiful autumnal colours around you on 30 November this year.
Runners love the annual Mount Fuji Marathon for its flat course, meticulous organisation, cheerful crowds and fantastic weather.
Register now at www.fujisan-marathon.com.
Going to Perth was one of those things that I’d always intended to do, but never got around to.
This Easter break, encouraged by a great weather forecast, I finally decided to take the four-hour flight from Sydney.
I now think it’s a must-see destination.The Western Australian city borders the
Indian Ocean, with the Swan River running through it. From the moment I arrived I was charmed by the mild sun, perfect blue skies and tranquil surroundings.
Perth is compact and well planned, which made it a great city for walking and tourism. Most of the cafes and restaurants in town stayed open during the holiday. A cup of coffee at London Court, an arcade built in 1937, is a must!
Carefully preserved European and Brit-ish architecture, modern art installations on every corner of the central business district and great infrastructure continued to amaze me as my trip went on.
The coastal city of Fremantle is an easy train ride from Perth’s Central Station.
Fremantle is famous for its “Cappuccino Strip”, an area jam-packed with restaurants, pubs, funky bars and micro breweries.
Cicerello’s, which bills itself as Western Australia’s first fish and chips restaurant, is located right on the fisherman’s wharf over-
SEASIDE RENDEZVOUS: (clockwise from top) Victoria, far right, met up with staff in Perth; spicy crabs at Cicerello’s in Fremantle; Rottnest’s wild, beautiful coastline.
looking the turquoise ocean. Their spicy crab and mussels are a must-try.
The following day we headed to Rottnest Is-land, which is 20km from Perth and about an hour away by fast ferry. It’s a beautiful island fringed by white sandy beach-es.
It’s also home to the adorable quokka – a friendly, small marsupial native to the region.
Visitors can hire a bike or stroll around the island, and stay out to watch the dramatic red sunset from any of its lovely beaches or cliffs.
The island was named “rat’s nest” in the 17th century by Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh, who mistook the quokka for giant rats when he spent six days exploring the island in December 1696.
I’d like to thank my colleagues from the Perth Airport and Cargo departments, who met me over tea and drove me to Kings Park Memorial Grounds for panoramic views of Perth at night.
I’ve discovered yet another hidden trea-sure of Australia in Perth!
