inspiration - cathay pacificdownloads.cathaypacific.com/cx/press/cxw/pdf/cxw236.pdf · inspiration...
TRANSCRIPT
Precision timeA closer look at the GTO project
news
Trial flight into new airport down under
TouringTurkeyExploring country’s rich culture
travel
Wellcampwell done
news
Rick Fry retires from flying
What’s next for Fry?
who, what, where
Page 2 Page 14 Page 16Page 4
A magazine for staff and friends of Cathay Pacific AirwaysDecember 2015, Issue 236
INSPIRATIONCathay pilots dream tocircumnavigating the world Pages 8-9
Photo by Karen Yung
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Produced by Cathay Pacific’s Corporate Communication Department
7/F North Tower, Cathay Pacific City, Lantau, HK
Publisher: James TongManaging Editor: Mark Tindall
Editor: Kawai Wong
Enquiries: 2747-8227GalaCXy ID: CCD#SCT
Email: ccd#[email protected]
Briefs
It will be business as usual for staff using the clinic at Cathay City when a switch of service providers takes place at the end of the month.
Effective 1 January, Raffles Medical Group will take over from Quality Healthcare Medical Services (QHMS) to run the staff clinic, providing all clinical, occupational health and physiotherapy services.
The dental clinic at Cathay City will continue to be run by QHMS.
“Overall there will be little in the way of change for staff using the clinic,” says Company
Medical Officer Valni Haughton. “The phone number, opening hours,
reception team and doctors will be the same as before, and there will be no changes to the list of panel doctors and specialists in Hong Kong.”
Valni stresses that QHMS will remain as a panel doctor provider, so staff in other locations such as Tung Chung and Discovery Bay can continue to use the same doctors as before.
Once change to note is that X-ray services will no longer be offered at Cathay City.
“Staff can have X-rays taken at Raffles’ clinic or be referred to designated panel facilities for medical imaging services,” Valni says.
All medical records will be transferred to the new provider and will remain in the Cathay City clinic unless staff specifically request to transfer them elsewhere.
Change of medical provider
Campaign gets teams around the world considering what SSFTH means to themA campaign to reignite passion for the airline’s service ethos, Service Straight From the Heart (SSFTH), has generated a positive response from frontline teams.
The campaign began in earnest on 9 November with senior service delivery managers writing messages on heart-shaped tags that were then hung on a specially created SSFTH tree.
Among those sharing their personal messages at the launch event were Director Service Delivery James Ginns, General Manager Cabin Crew Maggie Yeung, General Manager Inflight Services Ed Higgs, General Manager Airports Vivian Lo and General Manager HKIA Liza Ng.
The trees were located in multiple sites at Cathay City, HKIA, outport crew bases and Airports (AHQ) offices around the network.
“We had well over 1,000 messages and we plan to put the best ones into a book which can be shared with staff as best practices and will be particularly useful during training,” says Elaine Champion, Manager Training & Development in ISD.
“Ports and bases around the world have been enthusiastically participating in the campaign, and it has been great to see departments such as Global Contact Centres,
Customer Relations and Digital Retail also coming onboard,” Elaine says.
AHQ was quick to embrace the campaign, calling it “an excellent opportunity for airports across the network to realise SSFTH across different generations and cultures,
and to engage their teams locally”. Shortly after the official launch,
AHQ celebrated SSFTH with its own tree ceremony and began preparations to roll out the campaign to outport airports.
Each port will receive a SSFTH tree and a box of delights with Service
Staff are all heart!
Straight from the Heart Booklets, Heart Cards and a personalised message from a member of AHQ.
Elaine says that phase two of the campaign, early next year, will include a photo booth where staff can take photos and have their quote put on an SSFTH poster.
34.9%
74.6%Within 15 mins
Industry standard
On-time performance Traffic/capacity (CX + KA)*
Performance Index
on-the-dot CX standard
Passengers carried 2,843,442 6.9%
Passenger load factor 84.1% 3.4pt
ASKs (000) 12,307,735 6.0%
Freight carried 163,733 4.6%
Cargo load factor 66.5% 1.4pt
ATKs (000) 2,606,206 3.1%* Figures for Oct 15
Sing Jet Kerosene
ICE Brent
Fuel price - Rolling 6 MonthsUSD per Barrel
Jun/15 Nov/15
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
STOP PRESSn Cathay to launch to GatwickJust as CX World went to press it was confirmed that Cathay will launch a four-times-weekly service to Gatwick Airport in London, beginning 2 September next year.
The flights will be operated by the new Airbus A350-900 aircraft in a three-class configuration featuring Cathay’s latest inflight products.
The new service will comple-ment the airline’s current five-times-daily service to Heathrow, making a total of 39 flights a week.
More on the new destination in the January issue of CX World.
n Another plaudit for The Pier
In the latest issue of Monocle, an influential publication from the UK, the First Class Lounge at The Pier has been listed as Best New Lounge in the magazine’s annual Travel Top 50.
Monocle calls the lounge “an-other masterclass in well-wrought hospitality, packed with homely touches… the facilities themselves impress as much as the design”.
n More awards for Cathay and Dragonair It was a good night for the Cathay Pacific Group on Friday, 20 No-vember when it took home three awards at the Business Traveller China Awards 2015.
Dragonair won Best Airline Economy Class, while Cathay collected the Best Asian Airline Serving China honour and the Best Frequent Flyer Programme “in recognition of the excellence of its Marco Polo Club programme”.
n CorrectionApologies to Chris Tse, who sub-mitted the travel story on Croatia in the November CX World. We stated his job title as Senior Purs-er, but the Chris Tse in question is in fact Assistant Manager Project Accounting in Finance.
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As we get closer to the end of another busy and eventful year for the Cathay Pacific Group, I’d like to say a very big thank you to everyone in the team for a great effort. The operating environment was as challenging as ever, but we managed to achieve many positive things in 2015.
We enhanced our network with new destinations such as Zurich, Boston and Düsseldorf, and it’s been pleasing to see all of them get off to an encouraging start. We also added Haneda and Hiro-shima for Dragonair, and announced that we will launch Madrid next June and resume operations to London Gat-wick from September, highlighting a clear commitment to continue building connectivity through our hub.
We unveiled a new aircraft livery, which heralded a new era for our airline in terms of bringing our refreshed brand to life on our most important assets. We added nine new aircraft to our fleet – and took seven older aircraft out of operation to boost the overall efficiency of our operations. And we opened some great new lounges – in Hong Kong and overseas - that quickly won widespread acclaim. Just this month, the influential Monocle maga-zine in the UK listed The Pier as Best New Lounge in its annual Travel Top 50.
To achieve such things in a generally challenging business environment is a testament to the outstanding work of the team. That’s just one of the reasons we were pleased to announce a 4% increment to the majority of our Hong Kong ground staff and cabin crew earlier this month, together with a one-month discretionary bonus.
We will move into 2016 in gener-ally good shape, though we will tread carefully in the face of a number of uncertainties, particularly in relation to the economic outlook and the frailty of cargo demand. On the plus side, we will begin taking delivery of our new A350 aircraft with our latest products onboard, and also celebrate a very significant milestone – our 70th anni-versary as the carrier of Hong Kong.
We have come a long way over the past seven decades, and I look forward to embarking on the next stage of our journey with the best team in the world. I wish you all a wonderful festive season and a very happy New Year!
Ivan Chu
Chief ExecutiveMessage
Facing up to the ‘new norm’ at HKIALarge scale Lean project to improve aircraft turnaround efficiency
“More than 50 staff and 10 business units and suppliers compete for the same space on and off an aircraft during the short turnaround time,” says Liza Ng, General Manager HKIA.
To name but a few: above the wing, there are cabin cleaning, catering and security check teams. At the terminal, there are staff dealing with gate planning, passenger boarding and disembarkation. Below the wing, there are people working on cargo and baggage loading, refuelling and so on.
Since the launch of the Ground Time Optimisation (GTO) project in March 2015, the GTO team has been working to redefine a new Precision Time Schedule (PTS), which was introduced in 1997 but no longer reflects the challenges that the airline faces today.
More than 100 workshops and trials were completed where frontline staff got a chance to refine their modus operandi using various Lean tools.
Staff mapped out the end-to-end ground processes and identified critical paths – jobs that are linked and show the biggest promise for improvement.
“One of these was the cleaning process,” Liza says. “The old standard for cabin cleaning was 32 minutes. We worked out that it could be done with higher efficiency while
maintaining the same quality. For instance, it is now 20 minutes for an Airbus 330.”
In the old days, cleaning started only when the all the passengers had left the aircraft. In the new cabin cleaning trial on Cathay and Dragonair, First and Business Class passengers make their exits from door one, and Economy from door two. “This allows the cleaners to begin their work potentially five minutes earlier,” says Liza.
Another area of improvement comes from standarising the cleaning workflow.
The cleaners are now given a task card and a boarding sequence before they enter the cabin. Every cleaner’s path and task sequence are designed to minimise non-value-added walking time. This way, there are less cross-paths inside the confined cabin space. The redesigned workflow also evens out each cleaner’s workload, so every cleaner will finish at nearly the same time, thus achieving maximum efficiency.
At the terminal, passengers are given leaflets and check-in staff will also remind them to reach the boarding gates 30 minutes prior to departure, as the gates are now stringently closed at -10 minutes. “This gives sufficient time for the set of operational procedures that follows, for example final
loadsheet and push-back clearance, so that the plane can take off on time when air traffic control is not a factor of influence,” says Liza.
Below the wing, baggage handlers now begin to search for bags that belong to late passengers at -15 minutes to facilitate a prompt -10 minutes gate closure. Work has also been done to ensure prompt release of the final loadsheet to the captain, which enables the aircraft to seek earlier clearance from ATC.
GTO has also provided a platform for all parties involved to share their challenges and tackle them as a team. “For example, the ISM, Boarding Gate Service Leader and Turnaround Coordinator now adopt a tripartite handshake to foster better communication, synchronise watches and align on estimated boarding time,” Liza explains.
Consistent implementation of the new PTS is now managed by a dedicated team of Turnaround Coordinators for both Cathay and Dragonair, who carry a checklist to manage PTS compliance by all parties from January 2016 onwards.
Liza adds: “To improve OTP, our first step is to improve PTS compliance, which puts us in a better position to confront the new norm – ATC and ramp congestion – issues that require effort at a broader schedule planning level.”
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Staff from across the Cathay Group took part in the Fifth Swire Sustainable Development forum held at JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong on 12 November.
Organised annually since 2010, the event brought together sustainability teams as well as other departments such as facilities, purchasing, finance, human resources, and IT, to learn and share the latest sustainability practices across the group. It is a unique one-day event supported by leadership from the Swire group and all the operating companies.
The agenda for the day included panel discussions with senior management, presentations from various Swire companies and a poster competition showcasing over 40 sustainability projects across the group.
Highlights of the day: • John Slosar and Martin Cubbon (Swire
Pacific Chairman and Finance Director) kicked off the forum with a few words on the relevance of sustainability for Swire. They also talked about a plan to introduce more accountability for sustainability risks in the budget planning process.
• Director Corporate Affairs James Tong was on this year’s leadership panel (together with Swire Properties, Swire Pacific Offshore, Beverages and Trading and Industrial). He shared his views on Cathay’s sustainability journey, the value of sustainability for us, and some of the projects currently underway for 2016, with a particular focus on staff engagement across the company.
Swire Pacific Leader’s Panel• Bidyut Durma from the Cathay IT
Innovation Centre gave an engaging session on the link between innovation and sustainability, and some of the cool things that the Centre has been doing around fuel efficiency visualisation and electronic baggage tags.
• Carpets from our Economy Class cabin won the Most Innovative Award. Prian Chan from Environmental Affairs presented this product project, showcasing the environmental credentials of the carpets used in our cabin – derived from waste finishing net and recycled plastics.
Sustainability in focus at latest Swire forum
Thousands of locals in the Australian town of Toowoomba gathered to watch a one-off flight, CX123, land at the country’s newest airport on 23 November. The Boeing 747-8 freighter was deployed to test operations and commercial interest from the region.
Wellcamp Airport is located in one of Queensland’s richest agricultural areas. For Cathay, the privately owned infrastructure presents a good opportunity for the cargo business, and offers an option for a 24/7 alternative for Brisbane-bound flights.
With the recently signed Australia-China Free Trade Agreement in mind, Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch wishes to capitalise on the business opportunity. Mark says: “The demand for safe provenance of food into China is growing very fast. Currently, Cathay’s freighter services to the existing ports of Sydney and Melbourne are limited, so we need to look for new opportunities.”
In addition to fresh produce, inter-state trucking is another market that shows potential,
exemplified by the two helicopters that CX123 carried. “The origin for the helicopters was Brisbane, which was a one-hour truck to Wellcamp versus a day transit into Sydney – our closest main deck port for freighters,” Mark says. “There are also import opportunities, for example the oil and gas sector.”
The trial flight carried more than 70 tonnes of produce, chilled beef, mangoes and pecans bound for Hong Kong and China.
Behind the scenes, a lot of coordination had gone into planning this one-off operation. General Manager Operations Captain Mark Hoey explains: “The planning started about 10 months ago. Line Operations and Performance Engineering did months of preparation and analysis to have every possible contingency covered, as the operation wasn’t how Cathay traditionally worked. This was simply a great can-do story.”
On CX123’s arrival into Wellcamp, a large number of local producers, growers and other exporters greeted the inbound freighter. The
local guests met with Cathay representatives including Mark Hoey, Cargo Manager Australia Nigel Chynoweth and General Manager Southwest Pacific Nelson Chin, who said in his speech: “We are always looking for new opportunities around the world. And they are not always passenger destinations. In fact, five of the 12 newest ports on the Cathay Pacific network to be announced or introduced over the past two years were purely for freighters.”
Mark Sutch adds: “It has been exciting to be part of a project that is a first for this new airport. We managed to test the practical aspects from the flight operations and cargo services’ points of view, and have a commercial success at the same time. This flight has been very satisfying for all involved.”
Trial flight tests commercial and operational potential of new airport
For one week in November, staff at Cathay City and Dragonair House were invited to experience a host of events all aimed at boosting wellbeing among the workforce.
EAP & Wellness Week was organised by the Corporate Medical Department and had the dual aim of promoting better mental and physical health as well as highlighting the services available to staff through the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
Company Psychologist Florence Ma says EAP is now being provided by an organisation called Optum, which puts a focus on physical, mental, social, environmental and spiritual elements of wellbeing.
“We wanted to ride on Optum’s expertise in this area to promote a wider concept of wellness to our staff, with a particular focus on stress management,” says Florence.
The week generated a good response, with close to 2,000 staff participating in the different activities on offer, including
physical health-screening sessions and stress management activities such as laughter yoga, meditation and massage, and educational talks including one on mental health in the workplace.
Staff can look forward to similar wellness events in the coming year, combined with
regular health screening sessions and educational talks.
The EAP is provided for all Cathay and Dragonair staff and their dependants worldwide. Find out more about the programme on IntraCX via CX & You > Health & Environment.
Wellness boost for staff
Wellcamp welcomes first Cathay freighter
Scan this QR code to take a tour at the
Wellcamp passenger terminal
Looking into the past Brand Design column
“It is a common misconception to view design as something you do at the end of the process to ‘tidy up’, as opposed to understanding that it’s a ‘day one’ issue and part of everything.” Tom Peters, co-author of In Search of Excellence.
Following the launch of the freed brushwing in October 2014, we have articulated a new design philosophy to shape a more consistent experience, for the benefit of our customers, and underpin our belief in a Life Well Travelled.
Working with different business units and designers we have been striving to make the customer experience even more refined, more consistent and more relevant to what our passengers aspire to today.
To drive consistency in what we do both internally and externally, the Brand Design Ethos, Brand Architecture (Logo) Guidelines and associated supporting material are available in the Brand Design section of IntraCX.
Through this regular design column, we hope to help you by bringing simple, bite-sized design hints and tips, relating to the overarching design ethos, for your understanding and application.
We will be sharing some thoughts with regards to various aspects of brand design. Some of the practical topics will include: respecting the space around our logo, correct typeface application, iconography, photography and videography style, avoiding superfluous graphics, and so on.
We hope you will find this column useful in understanding the importance of brand design, and how you can be part of Cathay’s consistent delivery of our brand ethos.
The Brand Team
QUESTIONS? If you have any special requests
which you’d like us to cover, please email [email protected]
Swire’s first purpose-built archive – located on Shipyard Lane in Quarry Bay – provides a permanent home for the archives of all Swire companies based in Asia, with a sizeable space given over to historic materials from Cathay. its opening was marked by a ceremony on 11 November, hosted by Swire Pacific Chairman John Slosar.
Speaking at the event, John said that “it’s a powerful resource as we continue to define and build our brands.”
The team at Swire’s HK Archive Service worked closely with departments and staff across Cathay.
“The collection brings together all classes of the records, including marketing collaterals and oral history recordings that tell Cathay’s story from the earliest days through to the present,” says Matthew Edmonson, the designated archivist for Swire’s Aviation Division.
Please email Matthew on [email protected] if you uncover any historical artefacts or records and don’t know what to do with them.
New era for cateringCatering Planner set to take meal planning into the future
Catering Planner, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair’s cloud-based integrated catering application, started its progressive roll-out in May. Now, the project has reached its first key milestone with the software finally reaching all 62 Cathay and 43 Dragonair ports.
The Catering Services team initiated the project 30 months ago to automate and synergise the airlines’ catering operations, with the eventual goal of improving services in line with market expectations.
“There are initiatives out there now that allow customers to preselect meals before they fly,” says Aaron Claxton, Manager Catering Services.
“We’ve had this on our roadmap for quite some time but lacked the IT capability because Cathay and Dragonair had very old legacy systems which were unable to support this proposition. Catering Planner is opening a lot of doors for us. The next phase will be to
link it to a customer interface when it comes online.”
“For the two airlines, Catering Planner represents a significant increase in automation,” says Waheed Zaman, IT Integrated Catering Solutions Programme Manager. So far, Catering Planner has achieved automation in many manual handlings.
Aaron explains: “Prior to the launch, only 30% of our workflow process such as meal and galley load planning, were automated. Now, this figure is nearer to 80%, involving steps from the early stages in the catering planning processes to the final phases of invoicing and designing galley packing.”
To achieve automation across the entire workflow, IBM has been appointed as system integrator, responsible for Catering Planner’s interfacing with more than 20 legacy systems that the airlines are using.
“Modernising the airlines’ systems required a team of IT experts to understand the functions of different systems,” says Daniel Pinto, IBM Account Partner. “Our team looked at the existing ones such as the flight schedule system, passenger service system, financial management system and so on, to make sure Catering Planner talks to each one seamlessly.”
Daniel adds that the system is capable of giving
the airlines visibility and control over the variables that affect ordering, scheduling and preparation of meal and services, so that ordering and loading adjustments can be made in real time in response to dynamic flight operations.
Apart from automating the catering operations, synergising is another key objective for Catering Planner.
With a common workflow, the same vendors can be used across all ports, allowing the airlines to accommodate a growing customer base and an expanding fleet.
Aaron says: “By 2016, each time you board a Cathay Pacific or Dragonair flight, everything from the infight meals, to the wine, the pillows and blankets will be accurately loaded using Catering Planner.” Of course, passengers will also be able to make their meal choices online, tentatively starting from the fourth quarter of 2016.
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6
Letters to the Editor
Consistency and uniformityAll Cathay uniforms worn by ground staff, cabin crew and cockpit crew now appear to be out of touch with the new brand design ethos.
Perhaps it is time to refine and consolidate the uniforms rather than have the confusing multiple colour options that define different ranks and levels?
For example, do customers really know or care about the difference between red and white shirts? I’m sure some refinements can be used to better differentiate the hierarchy among staff.
Would the company also consider consulting the frontline staff who wear the uniform on a daily basis?
Cockpit crew
Le Le Ng, Manager Inflight Services Standards & Safety, replies: The design of the current uniform for cabin crew and ground staff was launched in 2011. Prior to the uniform launch, the New Uniform Working Group had been working with the designer and various groups of frontline staff to come up with a new design.
The design process involved
of Cathay uniforms, we will of course leverage the new brand design ethos as we continue to roll out a consistent look.
For your reference, Flight Operations did not participate in the last uniform launch.
Ed Higgs, General Manager Inflight Services, replies: Our uniforms are reviewed and updated from time to time to follow our brand guidelines.
As you can appreciate this is a major undertaking, and we go to considerable lengths to test any new versions with our teams who wear them.
Letter of appreciation Dear Matthew Wharfe, I understand that you are the Airport Services Manager for Cathay Pacific. I just wanted to say what a superb team you have working for you.
I was unfortunately taken ill just before takeoff on a recent flight from London Heathrow to Hong Kong, which prevented me and my family from flying.
The way your team, in particular Alex and Emma, dealt with the situation was nothing short of brilliant, considering the disruption I caused to the airline, the Captain and all the passengers that evening!
Your team took complete control and made sure the disruption to our holiday was minimal. They rebooked all of us on to the next available flight, thus salvaging what potentially could have been a disastrous holiday!
I have travelled the world extensively over the years; I have to say my experience with Cathay Pacific has been one of the best.
Thank you again! Mark Salmon
customer focus groups, staff online surveys and wearer trials to ensure feedback and suggestions from both passengers and the uniform wearers were considered.
Part of the study also covered the signature elements representing Cathay and feedback with regards to rank differentiation.
It was included in the design brief that red was the brand heritage colour for the Cathay uniform, and that the brushwing logo must be included as a signature element.
The design prototypes were presented to a specially formed steering committee for selection.
When we next perform a full review
The winner of the CX World Star Letter scores a bottle of Chateau Cantelaudette Cuvee Prestige 2011.
This sumptuous Bordeaux blend originates from Graves de Vayres, a small district in the Entre-Deux-Mers sub-region of Bordeaux. Featuring notes of dark cherry, plum, cedar, and a hint of mocha, the wine has a dry minerality and a pleasant hint of tannin on the palate.
Chateau Cantelaudette 2011 is served in Business Class.
ISD will be offering a bottle from the Business Class selection every month for the Star Letter prize winner, so watch this space!
Star Letter prize
The Cabin Crew team of CX697 which departed Hong Kong for Delhi on 10 October was thanked by a passenger, who was grateful for the crew’s integrity and care. The crew will be invited to a recognition event in early 2016 at the HKACE Touching Moments Awards ceremony.
About two hours after take-off, the Delhi-bound CX697 was cruising smoothly and passengers were easing into sleep mode shortly after dinner.
Everything seemed to be in order and it was looking like an uneventful flight. That was until Flight Purser Jan Cheung rushed out of the lavatory in the Business Class cabin with a pale and confused look.
He went to Senior Purser Soniya Doshi in the galley. “I found this in the toilet and there’s a stack of cash inside”, he said while holding a small brown envelope.
Concerned to find the envelope’s rightful owner, the two looked for identification but there was none. The cash inside amounted to CAD$5,000. The crew got worried that the owner could now be restless.
Jan and Soniya were reporting the incident to Inflight Service Manager Carroll Lynn Tham, when a teary-eyed passenger in his thirties came out of the lavatory and approached the team. He was anxious and could barely talk. They calmed him down.
“I may have left an envelope in the lavatory when I changed into more comfortable clothes. It has cash inside.” He described with certainty that the envelope contained 50 notes of CAD$100.
The passenger was from Economy Class cabin but Carroll Lynn remember seeing him crossing over to the Business Class lavatory about an hour ago.
His worried look turned into a sigh of relief when he learned they found the cash. He couldn’t contain his happiness. He thanked Jan profusely and offered part of his money as a reward. Jan politely declined.
“There is nothing more rewarding than knowing that our passengers appreciate what we do,” Jan said.
As the passenger was disembarking the aircraft shortly after landing, he approached the crew with a thankful look. “I will never forget your care.”
I would like to compliment CPCS for replacing the wrap on the Manila flights with the new pastry-styled snack. The new snack is tastier, and its lattice pastry is done well.
I hope that the rotation of these snacks on the Hong Kong-Manila sector can be more imaginative in the future. The Philippines, for example, has various savoury snacks that can serve as the culinary inspiration for our inflight meals on the Hong Kong-Manila flights.
Adelaida Padua, ISD
Aaron Claxton, Manager Catering Services, replies:
Delicious lattice pastryThank you for your positive feedback. The new snack was developed in-house by the Cathay menu planning team in conjunction with our catering supplier. The snack is intended for use on selected short-haul flights.
We do review our inflight menu offerings on a regular basis, based on passenger and crew feedback.
Our philosophy is to include regional influences in our offering, at the same time being mindful of different palates. We will continue to develop new recipes for this product range and look forward to receiving future feedback. Thanks again.
High flyersI’d like to know if there are any recruitment initiatives to draw candidates from different de-partments across Cathay?
I, for one, am sure that many flight attendants like myself would love to join the flight deck as cadets and better our career prospect.
Employees already know the company very well and love working for the company. Not only will an internal recruitment attract interest from all depart-ments and boost the number of cadet pilots, I am sure the com-pany would love to see us do well in our career and life too!
Jezil Bhesadia, Flight Attendant
Kelly Crawford, Flight Crew Recruitment Manager, replies: Cathay staff with a passion for flying have an opportunity to forge a career as a commercial pilot.
The Cadet Pilot Scholarship offers a limited number of scholarships each year to staff who have demonstrated a clear commitment to flying, but have not been able to take their interest to a professional level.
This scholarship is open to all permanent employees of Cathay Pacific Airways with at least one year of experience in their current positions.
For more information, refer to IntraCX > Home > Crew Support > Personnel > Recruitment > Cadet Pilot Scholarship Scheme.
Ease of transport The transport link between Tung Chung and Sha Tin isn’t exactly the best. The single bus route that serves the area isn’t all that reliable or convenient.
Since the transportation cost to Tung Chung is so high, can Cathay follow other companies, such as Ikea and Phoenix TV to provide a free shuttle service or transport allowance for staff who live far away?
FIN staff
Sara Lau, People Officer, replies: Thank you for your feedback. The company has no plans to provide free shuttle services or transport allowance.
Please don’t hesitate to contact the Benefit Services Team if you have further enquiries.
7
Letters to the Editor
A flight to rememberIt was a very special moment for 53 beneficiaries of the Hong Kong government’s Child Development Fund (CDF) when they gathered at HKIA on 15 November to take their first ever flight.
The youngsters arrived at the airport with their CDF mentors and family members, and a total of 170 people took off into the skies aboard an Airbus A330-300, enjoying a 90-minute trip over Hong Kong.
Joining them for the flight – dubbed the Dragonair Journey of Dreams – were Guest of Honour Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam , Dragonair CEO Algernon Yau and Director James Tong.
“We hope this programme provides participants and their families not only with a unique experience, but also gives them the inspiration and motivation to plan for their future development,”
Algernon said.There was certainly an enthusiastic
response from the youngsters, aged 10-16, who are working to build a positive future for themselves under the guidance of the CDF.
Lau Ka-ho said the flight gave him a clearer understanding of how he can achieve his dreams. “After experiencing my first flight today, I am certainly attracted by the exciting world of aviation!” he smiled.
The Journey of Dreams programme also included Aviation 360, an educational workshop held in October where the youngsters got a taste of what aviation is all about.
Dragonair staff, including pilots, cabin crew and engineers, played
a key role in helping to
educate and inform participants during the Aviation 360 event and the flight itself.
“Witnessing the joy and excitement on the kids’ faces when the aircraft took off the ground – an experience I am so used to in my daily life – was deeply touching,” says Purser Karen Lam.
Aviators of the futureThe 10th anniversary of the Dragonair Aviation Certificate Programme (DACP) was celebrated in style on 27 November with the graduation of the 31 young people who took part in the 2015 edition.
Over the past decade, some 180 young people have graduated from the DACP – with more than half of them subsequently taking up careers in the local aviation industry, working as everything from air traffic controllers to pilots.
CEO Algernon Yau said that a large pool of talent will be needed to support the future growth of aviation in Hong Kong.
“Our commitment made at the launch of the DACP in 2005 is bearing fruit, with many programme graduates having already embarked on aviation careers,” he said.
A major initiative under the Dragonair Aviation Youth Academy, the DACP gives participants the chance to deepen their aviation
knowledge and also helps to identify their particular interests and talents.
Every year, Dragonair pilots volunteer their services to mentor participants throughout the six-month programme, providing motivation and inspiration in addition to lots of practical advice.
Enrolment for the 2016 DACP has already begun and is open until 13 December 2015 – visit www.dragonair.com/aviationacademy.
HAPPY FLIGHT: Children who had never flown before joined management and officials on their first flight.
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Sky’s the limitCaptain Hank Cheng moves a step closer to his dream of circumnavigating the worldA new chapter in Hong Kong’s aviation history was cemented on 15 November 2015. Captain Hank Cheng’s kit-built and locally certified aircraft, with the registration B-KOO, became the first of its kind to take off from Hong Kong International Airport.
At 7am, around 150 guests lined the periphery of the north runway where the plane, nicknamed Inspiration, lifted off the tarmac to loud cheers from the crowd.
It was an emotional moment. Engineers huddled together, students from St Paul’s Convent School – who helped to build the aircraft – cheered Inspiration on as it sped off into the air. Elation, joy, awe and pride filled the air. And as happy tears were shed, Hank landed safely 15 minutes later.
The excitement on the ground mirrored the focus and determination of Hank, a Boeing 777 pilot by trade. He said that he wasn’t as emotional as people thought he should be: “A lot of my energy went into the actual operation. The weather forecast for the flight day was marginal, so we were focused on finding an appropriate timing for the flight. I didn’t think much about it until I landed, when I felt relieved of the pressure from the night before.”
The momentous 15-minute flight had been more than seven years in the making.
Engineering Director Christopher Gibbs, who has been really happy to provide support to the project, professed his excitement at seeing
Inspiration take off: “We’ve all seen plenty of aircraft taking flight. But Inspiration was one of those very special moments. It was a real Hong Kong success story – a great achievement due to the amazing spirit of Hank and the team. It was truly great to see so many of our Graduate Engineers and former GEs as core members of the team.”
Every step leading up to the historical moment on 15 November had involved the hard work of countless people. Hank says: “Building and flying the plane were the easy parts. I get all the glory for building and flying the airplane. But Gary and his team worked really hard, burning the midnight oil to facilitate the certification process.”
Gary Tat, former Graduate
Engineer and currently Quality Manager, was the first to join Hank on Inspiration’s journey.
Gary says: “In Hong Kong, the difficulty is to certify the aircraft. Not many people had tried this before us. It was 18 years ago when a plane was certified under a similar situation, and we were certainly the first home-built to have done so.”
The team’s hard work resulted in gaining a Permit to Fly (not the Certificate of Airworthiness that are given to the Cathay fleet), which allowed Inspiration to be airborne in the airspace over Chek Lap Kok.
“On the 13th, at 4:30pm, we finally got the permit from CAD. We’ve been told this piece of paper was the fourth in Hong Kong aviation history,” Gary grins happily.
The next step for the team is to complete a 25-hour test flight programme, before Hank can fulfil his ambition of circumnavigating the world. The team wishes to clock these hours in Hong Kong, even though it is easier to achieve this overseas. Gary explains: “First, if we go overseas, the registration B-KOO will probably cease to exist, because we need to deregister the plane before we take it abroad. And if B-KOO is taken away, the question is: is it still a Hong Kong plane?”
Visit CX World’s Yammer group or browse the digital version for a video about Hank and Gary’s next step.
The Inspiration team is fundraising for their circumnavigation trip. Visit www.facebook.com/inspiration.bkoo for more information.
Hank and family “My daughter is now seven years old, the same age as B-KOO. For the past seven years I haven’t been as much of a father as I expected,” Hank says. “Much of the time when I was supposed to be present – I wasn’t there. But I do hope that the time [spent working on the plane] was not wasted, and when my son and daughter look back on their father and see this plane – and when the project comes to fruition – they will do something similar in the future and go chase their dreams.”
Unbeatable determination Gary and his team of engineers sacrificed many hours of their personal time to produce 1,800 pages of documents to certify B-KOO. The team includes: Crystal Tse, Geoffrey Hung, Sally Wong, Wingwing Cheung, Ken Cheng, Donald Ip, Alex Lo, Kelvin Chan, Michelle Lee, and Cyril Li.
Hank and Bill Bill Chu, a HAECO engineer and manager, is seen here with Hank in the early construction phase. Bill commended Hank’s perseverance, remarking that “even I would have given up all after all these years”. HAECO offered its mezzanine storage area to the Inspiration team, where they worked on B-KOO for two years.
Hopes and dreams School pupils who helped to build the aircraft doodled their wishes on the interior of Inspiration’s fuselage.
Mightiness in the making This photo shows the fuselage of Inspiration nearly complete. Next, the team had to connect avionics and fit the engine to the aircraft.
Hank’s most memorable moment happened here, he says: “As the plane was lifted from the mezzanine to the ground, it was dangling mid-air, and I thought, ‘that’s six and a half years of work swishing about up there!’”
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Wisdom of the veteransCaptain Hank Cheng moves a step closer to his dream of circumnavigating the world
72-year-old Engineering Manager, Toru Hazama, 40 years
Loyal Cathay staff share their experience in the company
The project spanned 2,631 days, more than 600 days of which were spent on constructing the plane
Over 500 people were involved in the project, including more than 200 students from a local school
Number of rivets on Inspiration: more than 13,5001,800 pages of documents were produced to support the certification process
25L of titanium paint was used
B-KOO stands 5ft 7in tall, has a wing span of 24ft, and a gross weight of 1,800lbs
Journey of Inspiration
Office in the air The cockpit of B-KOO mirrors Hank’s working environment in a Boeing 777. The figurine on the dashboard has, according to Hank, “no meaning. It was just a figurine I came across in Japan and I wanted to add some colour to the cockpit”.
The Spirit of Hong Kong It was a team decision to paint the Lion Rock as the plane’s livery, for its symbolic reference to the Hong Kongers’ unyielding spirit. Seventy design templates were produced by Senior Technical Services Engineer Tim Leung, who imagined Inspiration’s livery. Tim also oversaw the paint job in the HAECO hangar, where 25 litres of titanium paint was used.
Brothers in armsBonding over a shared dream of wanting to build their own aircraft, Hank and Gary’s resulting “bromance”, or kinship as they prefer, balanced banter and work talk which helped to see them through the countless challenges along the Inspiration journey.
Jenny Sum, 45 years Majemdra Rai, 40 years
Alvin Yuen, 40 years Francis Lee, 40 years
More than 1,000 Cathay veterans from around the network were honoured in this year’s Long Service Awards ceremonies held in November, hosted by Chief Executive Ivan Chu, Chief Operating Officer Rupert Hogg, Director Service Delivery James Ginns, Director Flight Operations Anna Thompson, and emceed by Director People Tom Owen.
A substantial number of gold pins were handed to staff who have been with the company for more than 20 years.
The event’s only 45-year pin was presented to Jenny Sum, Sales Coordinator. Amongst many of Jenny’s happy memories, she was most impressed with the company’s generosity during the SARS crisis. The Singapore staff says: “Before SARS, the company had never been in the red. But SARS really took its toll on the business. When the staff were asked to take no pay leave, most of us fully supported it. And what took us by surprise was, when the business bounced back, we were paid back the salary we gave up on our voluntary days off. We weren’t asked to compensate for the leave either.”
Jenny’s view of the company is shared by Alvin Yuen, who has risen through the ranks from a cabin crew to his current role as Dragonair’s Manager Operations & Cabin Crew Relations over the past 40 years. Alvin thinks that the company’s success lies in its ability to listen. He says: “We are a human-centric, human-driven business. We listen to our staff rather than rule in an authoritarian style. We manage by example, we walk the talk. When we make a decision, we observe the flexibility in balancing the interests of the customer, the staff, and the company.”
One of the oldest Cathay employees is 72-year-
old Engineering Manager Toru Hazama from Japan. When he reached his retirement age of 60, he was asked to stay on. He has since been posted to Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Delhi and Chennai, and is now based in Incheon. His most remarkable achievement was to set a record of no technical delays between 1990 and 1993. Hazama-san says: “I would like to keep working for Cathay, as long as the company still needs me.”
“We are very thankful to these long-serving colleagues,” says Ivan, who presented gold coins and other mementos to acknowledge staff who have served the company a combined 3,355 years. “The company owes its success to the contribution of these colleagues who have helped to shape our great airlines over the years. ”
Photos by Karen Yung & Eric Leung
A fitting end
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A fitting endIt’s one thing to recycle bottles, cans and newspapers that are taken off an aircraft; it’s another thing entirely to recycle the whole aircraft once its useful life is over.
But that’s exactly what Cathay Pacific is doing with the A340-300s that are now being retired from its fleet.
Four of the 11 A340s have already left the fleet this year, but instead of being sent for scrapping in the usual way, they are being sent to a facility in France that provides a much more environmentally responsible end-of-life solution.
The four aircraft in question have all been flown to a Tarmac Aerosave facility in Tarbes, southwest France, ending their life quite close to where they were originally assembled in Toulouse.
The aircraft go into a workshop at Tarbes where work begins on breaking them down in a methodical and carefully controlled way.
“The recycling process consists of three key steps, starting with the decommissioning of the aircraft and the emptying of fuel and water tanks,” says Head of Environmental Affairs Evelyn Chan.
In the second step, equipment and
Environmentally responsible end-of-life solution for A340s
parts, such as engines and landing gear, are dismantled, inspected, cleaned, and tagged before reuse.
“These parts may be reused either by Cathay and other airlines – nothing is needlessly thrown away,” says Evelyn.
Step three involves removing waste that cannot be recycled and other elements such as wiring. The entire fuselage is eventually cut up with most parts being sent to recyclers. The amount of waste that cannot be recycled is around 10%.
“About 70% of an A340’s weight is aluminium, which is all removed from the aircraft and melted down,” says Evelyn. “It will be reused in many different ways – for window frames and doors in the construction trade, for example, or in the car-making or petrochemical sectors.”
It is estimated that up to 90% of the aircraft’s total weight can be recycled, “and the industry is working towards doing even better in the future,” says Evelyn.
“The A340s have given great service to Cathay for almost two decades. It’s great to see they can end their lives in such a dignified and socially responsible way!”
Crossword Puzzle:IT Security
DOWN
1, 2. (1 down / 2 down) Lock your device with a _____ or _____(3, 8)
3. Keep your mobile operating systems _____ (7)
4. By _____ your device, you can potentially open security holes that undermine the built-in security measures (7)
5. Always _____ of banking and shopping sites instead of closing the browsers (6)
6, 7, 8. (6 down, 7 down, 8 down) Turn off _____ , _____ services, and _____ when they are not in use (4, 8, 9)
9. Only install applications from _____ sources (7)
10. Install a mobile _____ app (8)
11. Ensure the backups are _____ no matter stored in desktop PC or in removable media (9)
ACROSS
12. Configure your device to _____ lock after a certain period of time (13)
13. _____ your data frequently (6)
14. Never leave your device _____ in the public (10)
15. Do not allow _____ connections from unknown or untrusted sources on your device (8)
16. Do not bank or shop online from _____ Wi-Fi connections (6)
17. Never respond with _____ information even if you receive a text that appears to come from your bank or other legitimate businesses (8)
18, 19. (18 across / 19 across) Do not click on _____ or _____ in unsolicited emails or text messages (both SMS and MMS) (4, 11)
20. Do not download _____ data to unmanaged phones and devices (without MDM) (9)
21. What is the minimum length of a PIN for corporate mobile devices? _____ (3)
How much do you know about IT security? To test or improve your knowledge, complete the third crossword puzzle in this series for a chance to win a HK$100 Sogo Department Store cash voucher! Tear off this page and drop it in the collection box at the Tech Lounge or submit answers directly to IMT#RNS.
17 7
9
112031
16
2
19
15 4 5
14
12
/138
21
6
10
18
PEDALLING TO VICTORY: More than 300 Cathay Group pedallers and helpers turned out for this year’s 24-hour Pedal Kart Race held in Victoria Park on 14-15 November, with staff from Asia Miles, Dragonair, CPCS and CPSL taking part. Cathay Angels (Ladies) completed 828 laps and came first in the female group. Around HK$400,000 was raised for charities supported by the Hong Kong Round Table.
RESPONSIBLE DECOMMISSIONING: A340s are taken apart in Tarbes, where parts are repackaged and tagged for reuse by Cathay Pacific or other airlines.
CPCS wins energy efficiency and conservation award
happeningsClose to 9,800 Cathay and Dragonair staff are actively Yammering...
Kudos ANC! Captain Anthony Fesche posted this photo showing the harsh weather conditions that Anchorage staff have to face – in temperatures of minus 21oC! “So this picture is for them...” Anthony says, “as a Thank-You from the pilots!” General Manager Airports Vivian Lo, also showed her appreciation to the ANC team!
CAN YOU HELP?In the Share Your Moments – Photography and Videography group, Narita’s Customer Services Agent Jane Jane Divinagracia asked if anyone has any tips for her next trip to Krabi. “Anyone knows a nice place to stay near Ao Nang beach?” she enquired. Can you help?
MO SUCCESSMoeing team captain Carl Boddy announced in the All Company group that Cathay’s Movember initiative has raised about HK$85,000 for cancer and men’s health charities. Donation is still open via moteam.co/the-moeing-team.
WELCOME BACK!Country Manager Thailand Agatha Lee shared a snap of the Floating Basket Festival “Loy Krathong Festival” as her second ever post on Yammer! Welcome back Agatha!
Win a 1:200 new livery modelA 1:200 new livery aircraft model will be
awarded to the 10,000th Yammer sign up! Sign up on www.yammer.com using your
GalaCXy ID now!
Building homes, building hopeHKIA volunteers give new start to poor farmers in Yunnan
CPCS was crowned the Gold Award winner at the CLP’s Green Plus Award 2015. The flight kitchen beat more than 5,000 applications to win the top gong in the International Food and Beverage category, in an award programme that encouraged organisations to share measures on energy efficiency and conservation.
CPCS’s Chief Executive Officer Jenny Lam accepted the award at the InterContinental Hong Kong Hotel. Jenny is delighted that CPCS’s effort to reduce energy usage was recognised by the industry. Jenny says: “Our team has dedicated a lot of effort and resources to the research and development of a waste heat recovery unit (WHRU).”
Part of this initiative saw CPCS replacing the old air-cooled air-conditioning system with a water-cooled one, with energy savings of up to 40%.
The WHRU is an energy recovery heat exchanger that collects residual heat from steam heating equipment and ware-wash machines. The unit reuses this collected heat for heating up water. In addition, energy-efficient heat pumps were installed in the air conditioning system for hot water supply. These efforts resulted in a 12% year-on-year reduction in electricity consumption for CPCS in the first three quarters of 2015 alone.
To increase energy saving and environmental awareness among staff, CPCS formed a green committee, called Green Mind, in April this year. This committee held an activity to spread green ideas through the promotion of highly efficient electrical appliances.
CPCS has spared no effort in developing energy-efficient applications, and Jenny says: “Our commitment will continue in the future to reduce energy consumption so as to sustain the environment.”
Back in early November, General Manager HKIA Liza Ng and a team of HKIA staff set off on a volunteering trip to a remote Chinese mountain village in Yunnan to build decent housing for the impoverished local community.
More than 50 staff signed up – more than double the quota available. Those who could not go on the trip donated generously, raising a total of HK$78,000 for the NGO Habitat for Humanity. The NGO has built more than one million houses for five million people since its inception in 1976; and on this trip, HKIA added one more house to the tally.
Jayson Hui, Assistant Manager Communication Services HKIA, went on the trip with 20 colleagues. He says: “We visited Donggua Jing, a small hamlet where impoverished farmers lived. The village was an hour drive away from Kunming.”
The team arrived in Kumming at night and got up early the next morning to hike up the mountain on foot, carrying all the equipment and building materials with them.
Once the team arrived on site, they started building straight away – transferring bricks, mixing cement and laying bricks. It was five days worth of hard work.
Customer Service Officer Danny Hui recounts his experience: “We had to
climb mountains and wade through water to get the materials to the construction site. It was not easy.
But it was all worth it in the end, seeing that our effort had brought big smiles to the villagers’ faces.”
Danny reflected on the similarity between what they did in Yunnan and Cathay’s service ethos, and it was all about “the little things that we do to make others truly happy”.
Not only did the trip give the team a great sense of achievement, it also fostered a tighter bond between the team. HKIA Rostering Supervisor
Vangel Wong says: “The trip was an ice breaker for us. People from different departments worked together as a closely knitted team to achieve a common goal. That was a clear manifestation of our team spirit.”
Liza commended her team for their energy and spirit, saying: “We have demonstrated the synergy for which we are renowned. We settled into our house-building roles in our own accord, and helped each other when we needed a hand. It was all very moving and encouraging.”
The beneficiary of the HKIA team was the house’s owner, Mr Luo. He thanked the team with the only English words he knew: “Cathay Pacific, thank you!”
MEMORABILIA Staff have been taking to the CX History group to share their memorabilia collected over the years. Here, Assistant Manager Quality Assurance Operations Ron Ho shares a snap of a SuperTriStar coaster!
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SWEAT AND TOIL: A team of 50 built homes from the ground up.
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Offline team hits new high
NEWS FOCUS
Children’s outreach programmeManila’s office and Engineering staff, and members of the Philippine Cabin Crew Charities Inc (PCCCI) – which consists of current and retired crew – organised a children’s outreach programme in Manila in late October.
It was a day filled with entertainment, games and arts and crafts activities. The kids also wrote their wishes on tags to be displayed on a Christmas tree at the annual PCCCI Charity Ball. The Ball will be held at the Green Sun Hotel in December. If you would like to support PCCCI and its charitable projects, please email CCAARF.
Loads on Cathay’s flights to and from Europe have been high throughout 2015, but what people might not know is how much of that traffic originates from countries not in the airline’s network.
The airline has seven online destinations on the European mainland – Rome, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Zurich – but an increasing percentage of revenue comes from the 28 countries that make up Offline Europe.
The Offline Europe team consists of just two staff – Offline Sales Manager Tony Seifarth and Sales Officer Offline Europe Dirk Lucas – operating out of Frankfurt. They work closely with 21 general sales agents (GSAs) who sell for Cathay and Dragonair in 21 European markets.
Tony says that Offline Europe represents around 1% of system-wide passenger revenue, “but to put it into perspective, Offline Europe is our second largest revenue territory in Europe after the UK,” he says.
2015 has been an exceptional year for the team, with revenue growing by more than 30% thanks to new routes and capacity growth in the European network.
The top revenue territories this year have been Spain, Greece and the Scandinavian countries – Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
“In addition to the capacity increase, sales have been helped by the continued economic recovery in the eurozone and in particular the troubled Spain and Portugal markets emerging from the financial crisis,” Tony says.
The key to successfully and effectively promoting Cathay in offline markets is the bilateral agreements in place with partner carriers that help to feed passengers through the airline’s gateways.
“The optimal form of such bilateral agreements are code shares. However, often we have to rely on so-called SPAs (special prorate agreements) to link up countries or cities to our network effectively,” Tony explains.
“For example, we have code shares with British Airways between London and cities such as Copenhagen, Stockholm, Vienna or Prague, and we also have agreements with Scandinavian Airlines to connect from Copenhagen and Stockholm to a number of our European gateways. This helps to optimise choice and connectivity for passengers.”
Looking ahead into 2016, Tony says the main focus for the Offline Europe team will be to maximise passenger numbers and revenue on the new routes, “especially Madrid, which will improve our proposition in Portugal and free up space on other European routes.
“We’ll also be looking to increase yield, and continue to lobby for new code-share partners to further grow revenue from Offline Europe,” Tony adds.
China Business AwardsThe 2015 Cathay Pacific Business Awards presentation ceremony was recently held at the Duin & Kruidberg estate on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
The highest accolade, the Cathay Pacific China Business Award, was presented to Gispen, a furniture design and supply company.
The Hong Kong Shooting Star Award went to the Hong Kong-based Algorithmic Trading Group (ATG), a Dutch company that specialises in high and medium trading in financial markets around the world.
Promoting the Big AppleTo build on the Johannesburg Sales team’s positive relationship with travel agents, the team organised regular visits and pop quizzes to grow their business partners’ interest and knowledge in Cathay’s extended network to North America.
Multi-culturalism The Italy team sponsored an art book called Contemporary Art in… Cambodia, and it was recently presented at the Milan Town Office. The sponsorship aimed at bringing the two countries closer together through a cultural dialogue. Proceeds from the book are being donated to Il Nodo, an NGO that offers young Cambodians opportunities in education.
The Italy team also partnered with the Confucius Institute of Milan to organise a series of Chinese language and culture lessons at the Town Office, with the goal of making staff and passengers feel more confident on their upcoming trips to China.
Food for thoughtThe North America team does a lot of work in support of the local communities. On 11 November, 47 LA-
based cabin crew and staff from the Los Angeles Airport, Sales, and Flight
Operations teams helped Los Angeles Food Bank to sort out
fresh produce, canned items and assemble them in food packages. In 3.5 hours, the team sorted 13,512 lbs of
bread and shelf-stable items – the equivalent of 11,214
meals for the community!
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Denmark is high up on the offline revenue ranking.
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YMCA Charity Run
Jane Divinagracia is one of the lucky few who gets to work in a place that she loves and do the thing that she loves. “I don’t know why, but I just love Narita Airport! My dream has always been to work at Narita,” says the Customer Services Agent.
Jane was born in Manila, but moved to Japan nine years ago. Since the age of 11, she travelled frequently between Japan and the Philippines. As she grew older, her heart grew fonder for planes and the Tokyo airport. Her fascination eventually led her to take a college course on the airline industry.
“The most memorable event in my life was when I received an email from the People Department saying that I was in for Cathay!” Jane says excitedly. “When I was reading the email, I was at the Haneda observation deck looking at CX542 – the Queen – making its approach on the runway! It was such an amazing moment – it felt like destiny!”
Apart from checking in and boarding passengers, Jane also works as a ramp coordinator: “For me, SSFTH is about making a simple but genuine connection with the people around us, observing what they really need and acting on it before they even ask.”
Jane also volunteers for Cathay’s CSR programmes in Japan because she wants to contribute to the team and socialise with colleagues from other Japan ports. To connect with colleagues from around the world, Jane uses Yammer.
“For me, it’s a really good learning tool! I can get information about what’s happening on other ports and teams. I can also get information for work and be proactive in my role!”
Passion for aviation
#OneDayOffline The India team planned a range of #onedayoffline activities both online and on the ground.
The team distributed #onedayoffline placards to various customer touchpoints.
Passengers – including a Bollywood singer – enjoyed writing their pledges and posing for pictures with the boards.
There were also social media contests to encourage staff to spread the #onedayoffline message on Facebook and Twitter. Staff from Engineering, Airports, Cargo, Finance, Sales and Reservations actively took part.
Sunseed project More than 30 Vancouver staff volunteers braved the rain and lent their support to a very good cause.
Wielding gloves, shovels and weeding tools, the staff joined Vice President Canada Nick Hays to help prepare the farming fields for next year’s crop.
“Despite the weather we all made the best of it,” Nick says. “I can categorically say that I’ve never had such fun digging up manure!” Nick thanked everyone for their energy and enthusiasm, which “reminded me of the importance of a positive team spirit”.
Six runners from the Japan team took part in the 29th Tokyo YMCA International Charity Run. Cathay sponsored a pair of Economy Class tickets for the raffle; Japan’s new Sales & Marketing Manager Nick Brooks presented the prize on stage.
For the third consecutive year, Canada-based cabin crew have shown their team spirit in their fundraising efforts for the Leukaemia and Lymphoma society.
In October, charity masquerade balls were held in both Vancouver and Toronto, followed by walks with the community.
Together, both Canada bases raised over CAD$19,000 (HKD$110,000). This remarkable donation will help fund life-saving research and support people battling cancer.
Masquerade ball
Captain Rick Fry has spent more than 36 years in Cathay. He started as a Qantas cadet, followed by flying for a small airline in the Solomon Islands and Nauru. On 25 November, Cap-tain Fry retired as a Brisbane-based Check & Training Captain, and has since taken on his new role as Flight Simulator Instructor at Cathay City.
Aviation runs deep in the Frys’ family tree, beginning with Rick’s father. “My father flew from 1933 to 1972 and instructed during the Sec-ond World War,” Rick says. “He was an inspiration for me, as he let me ride in the back of an Avro Anson as a small boy.” And now, Rick’s own children Lachie and Michelle are following their father’s footsteps as part of the Cathay cockpit crew.
In his Solomon and Nauru days, Rick had flown all over the South Pacific and Southeast Asia into Hong Kong and Japan, on aircraft including the de Havilland Dove, Beechcraft Barons, Fokker F28s, Boeing 737s and 727s. His experience prepped him for the beginning of his career at Cathay in 1979, when he joined as First Of-ficer on the Boeing 707.
Rick recalls those early days: “Hong Kong was a very different city, and Cathay was small with only 220 pi-lots. Aircraft systems and support were very basic. However, the cama-raderie was strong, as one knew what was happening across the airline and its crews. It was fun as the flying was challenging and with greater free-dom on basic handling skills.”
Taking the next step in a distinguished career
Rick has fond memories of flying the 747 Classic during the 1980s. He says: “Flying our first ultra-long haul routes on the Jumbo was certainly exciting, as we ventured into new and interesting destinations in Eu-rope and North America.” At the time, Cathay was a pioneer in the ultra-long-haul routes across the Pacific.
Rick counts managing the intro-duction of the Airbus to the Cathay fleet among his biggest achieve-ments. In 15 years of working in Flight Operations, Rick has served various roles, rising from Fleet Man-ager TriStar, through General Man-
After 36 years of flying for Cathay, Captain Rick Fry revisits some of the most memorable moments in an eventful career
Jinko Takeshige, Flight Purser
Ready, steady, bake!
For more on Sara’s creations, visit her Facebook page via [email protected]
With a name sounding a lot like the frozen butter cake franchise, Sara Li is Cathay’s own star baker. At the recent reopening ceremony of the IT Solutions Centre, the IT Project Manager was asked to make a few cakes to celebrate the occasion.
“It’s a Cantonese tradition to do a pig-cutting at an opening ceremony,” says Sara, who baked a cartoon piglet McDull for the housewarming. “That was why I baked a meat-free piglet cake for the event.”
Sara is a well-known baker in the IT department. “Sometimes I bring my bakes to share with the team. There are a few keen bakers in the department, and we regularly exchange tips too!”
Sara started baking about seven years ago, she says: “I was inspired by the US TV programme Cake Boss. I was amazed at how plain sponge cakes were turned into a batch of fantastic pieces of edible art.”
Four years ago, Sara went to Taiwan to attend an intensive Wilton cake decoration course. That was the time when Sara started to take cake decorating seriously. “After that, I took a PME Cake Decorating course. I also took a Korean flower piping course to hone my skills.”
Sara’s creations are anything but ordinary. She bakes cartoon and anime-themed cakes in 3D, featuring the Japanese Kumamon, and Elsa from the Disney animation, Frozen. “They are sponge cakes with fresh fruit filling decorated with whipped cream and chocolate,” says Sara. “But for health reasons, I tend to make them less sweet too!”
1. You studied ac-counting in university,
so how did you end up as a cabin crew? Perhaps I was influenced by my father, who was a JAL cockpit crew.
2. We hear you’re an avid runner. I take part in about 15-20 races per year! I represent Cathay in four to five of these races every year.
3. How do you train for the races? Cross training mainly: bootcamp-ing, badminton, dancing, yoga and swimming.
4. How long have you been running? I didn’t start until I moved to Pui O on Lantau three years ago. The environment is great for jogging.
5. What do you like about running? I like the sense of accomplishment after each run. I’ve also made many friends and it is nice to exchange interesting race info with runners.
6. What does running mean to you? Running can improve fitness and is a great way to tackle jet lag. You can also run anytime, anywhere, even in the outports. I want to inspire more colleagues to put on their running shoes.
7. What are your current training goals? I would like to complete all six major city marathons and trail runs out of Hong Kong. And I would like to try the wine-drinking marathon in France, since the Marathon du Medoc I joined this year and last year were great fun!
8. Are you into wines? I’m a qualified sommelier. It helps with my job as a cabin crew!
9. In addition to Japanese, we hear you also did the PA in French on our Paris flights? I had been studying French before I joined Cathay. I am trying to brush up my French by joining the races
in France.
10. Do you have any other inter-ests?
I also took part in this year’s
pedal kart race as a member of the compet-
itive team Cathay An-
gels. We won the champion’s
trophy!
ager Flying to Deputy Director.“At the time, the crew was scepti-
cal of this new type of computerised technology,” Rick says, referring to the introduction of fly-by-wire. “Many briefings were organised for cabin crew and pilots with support from Airbus Flight Test. I was confident that with the enthusiasm of our first group of volunteer Check & Training pilots, we would overcome preconceived views on the technology.”
Another big change in Rick’s ca-reer involved the introduction of equal task sharing in the cockpit. “A First Officer began to take on a much
greater role in managing the flight. It was a big change at the time, but a better preparation for the goal of command,” Rick says.
On his new role as a Flight Simu-lator Instructor, Rick says: “There’s a real joy in passing on knowledge to the next generation of pilots. We need to keep the culture of Cathay alive as we step into the latest tech-nology with the introduction of the advanced A350. With our diverse backgrounds today, our glue is pro-fessional attitude and knowledge on the job, teamwork and the ability to communicate well with each other.”
PASSING THE TORCH: Rick’s daughter Michelle (pictured with her older sister on the right), is also a pilot at Cathay.
Taking the next step in a distinguished career
SWEETNESS: Cabin crew baked up a feast and raised HK$50,000 for the
Sunnyside Club. The next Charity Food Fair is on 11 Dec!
PING PONG: Winners of the All India Table Tennis Tourna-ment which was held at the Mumbai Town Office.
GOODBYE, HELLO: The Male team bade farewell to Airport Services Manager Waleed Khali, and welcomed successor Monica Badhwar!
SUNNY WALK: Director Service Delivery James Ginns
and General Manager Cabin Crew Maggie Yeung joined
more than 80 volunteers to raise HK$16,000 for the
Sunnyside Club!
BONDING: Close to 50 staff and family members joined CE Ivan Chu and Director People Tom Owen for a hike on 14 November.
CONQUERING FEAR: The Bombay Sales & Marketing
team conquered their fears on a rollercoaster ride
during their annual team getaway!
Tai Chi Club triumphs
Samuel Lo, who has been at the helm of the Cathay Camera Club (CCC) for more than a decade, started taking photography seriously when he was 19. “When I started to work, I saved up and bought my first camera, a Canon EOS650,” says the Flight Data Analyst. “I joined the Canon Photo Club later on, and my photo of a Cathay 747 flying through the buildings in Kowloon City won an award at the Canon photo contest.”
In fact, many legendary Cathay aircraft shots – taken both in Kai Tak and Chek Lap Kok – are Samuel’s work, including those large prints hanging on the walls of the 3/F offices at Cathay City.
Samuel feels that photography is not just about the camera. “Photography is about capturing a moment. The world’s most expensive camera won’t automatically give you a good shot,” he says.
In 2016, the CCC will start organising photo exhibitions on The Street at Cathay City to showcase staff’s thematic pictures. Giving club members’ photographs visibility has been central to the CCC’s ethos for the past few years. For example, the club’s annual photo competition has been running for the past eight years.
“The contest started because we were looking for staff photos to enter the Inter-Hong photo contest,” says Samuel.
This year’s competition theme is nature photography. All Cathay and Dragonair staff can enter with photos of flowers, birds, insects, or fish.
The competition ends on 10 December. Email your entries with the subject line “Photo competition 2015” to CSDLSC for a chance to win action cameras and mobile phone lenses.
After triumphing at the 10th International Wushu Competition in August, the Cathay Tai Chi Club shone again in November, this time at the 2015 Hong Kong Open Tai Chi Championship.
The team took home Ladies’ Team Champion, Men’s Team First Runner-Up and various individual medals. Christine Chan, the ladies’ team captain, says: “Winning a championship is never easy, but we have made it with the mantra of ‘one team, one goal’. I’d like to say a big thank you to Sifu – our master – for his guidance and support, and to all my teammates for their dedication and contribution.”
“The ladies’ team demonstrated a great team spirit by striking gold in the Posture-24 team event,” says Harty Baleros, the club’s chairperson. “This serves as a great honour and acknowledgement of the team’s intensive training throughout the year.” The men’s team secured the first runner-up in the Posture-24 team event.
The team also won medals in the individual Posture-24 events. Josephine Wong (ISD) was the champion, with Makiko Fujita (ISD) and Tricia Seng (ISD) winning second runner-up and fifth place respectively.
The biggest haul of medals came from the three-minute Traditional Tai Chi Performance competition, where 25 athletes from the club took part and claimed seven golds, nine silvers and nine bronze medals. The club also won the Grand Trophy for outstanding promotion and high participation rate in this competition category.
If you wish to know more about the Tai Chi Club, its training courses and activities, contact Harty at [email protected]. HAPPY DIWALI: India recently celebrated the festive season of Diwali. Passengers were given diyas (a symbol of this
celebration) and Indian sweets when they travelled on 11 November from India to Hong Kong.
MERRY MONKEYS: Kuala Lumpur office put up a tree decorated by airport staff Susan Woo... with the 2016 monkey soft toy!
Caught on camera
Photo logDipping into some of the most beautiful images submitted by staff to Yammer.
Assistant Cargo Services Manager Dhaka, Benazir Rahman, paid a visit to Turkey and quenched her fascination with the country’s storied history
“The beauty of my home town! My tips for Holland: Soest, home to the Soester woods and dunes, a reserve of 500 hectares sand flats, good for a day trip. Spakenburg, a tradi-tional fishing village with quaint restau-rants and shops. Some women still wear the traditional costume there! And Giethoorn, the ‘Venice of Holland’. Gliding along the small canals past pretty thatched-roof farmhouses is super peaceful!”Camera: iPhone6
Irma van Buuren, Airport Services Manager, AMS
“My wife and I drove 190km to take a picture of this sunset – we heard it was spectacular. This is a place called Jökulsárlón in south-ern Iceland, where the icebergs break off the glacier into a deep lagoon. It’s especially stunning at sunset.”Camera: iPhone5s
Mark Tindall, Corporate Communication Manager, HKG
“Ballooning over Bagan, skimming over the tops of ancient temples and mag-nificent scenery was an incredible experience. I had an unobstructed, 360-de-gree view of Bagan for a good hour as the basket slowly turned. Definitely an unmissable experience if you are ever in Myanmar.”Camera: iPhone6
Kevin Masin, Airport Services Manager, RGN
Turkish delightOff the beaten track in Holland
Bagan, Myanmar
It has always been my dream to explore Turkey – a transcontinental gem with a culture that bridges Eu-rope and Asia, and a history that straddles the Me-dieval Latin Turchia through to the Ottoman Empire.
My husband and I recently paid a visit to southwest Turkey’s UNESCO World Heritage Site – Pamukkale-Hierapolis. Pamukkale is a geological wonder, with its white travertine terraces cocooning natural pools of cobalt-coloured hot spring water. On the travertine terraces, we followed some designated paths to get a closer look, and we were stunned by its tranquillity and sheer beauty!
Adjacent to Paukkale is Hierapolis, an ancient city built on hot springs in the second century BC. Dur-ing the Roman Empire, Hierapolis became a healing centre where the giant hot basins and pools were used by doctors to treat their patients. Users reaped the benefits of thermal hydrotherapy, often com-bined with religious practices. People have bathed in this location for thousands of years now, and we took the opportunity to dip into some of these pools!
Our next stop was Ephesus, an ancient Greek city which was home to the Temple of Artemis. While walking through the ancient ruins, I tried to relate
Tip of an iceberg
to every change and story of the city. I was most impressed with the terrace houses opposite the Temple of Hardian, which offered a glimpse into the homes of the rich during the Roman Empire.
Then, we dropped by spectacular Cappadocia in central Turkey. Cappadocia, with its National Geo-graphic picture-perfect beauty, is a must-see on anyone’s bucket list.
It was amazing to walk and climb through the naturally-formed valleys and rock formations – the natural beauty was breathtaking!
A balloon ride is the quintessential activity at Cappadocia. Unfortunately, due to strong winds, we couldn’t do that on the day we visited. But a tra-ditional Turkish night took away all my sadness. In the evening, I enjoyed Turkish music and the cultural dance called the Dance for Divine Love.
We spent our final days of the trip in Istanbul. We went to a local market and celebrated my husband’s birthday with a kebab cooked in a clay pot. I also reminisced about every remarkable spectacle I had seen along our journey. Every stop that we made and every city we visited told a marvellous story, which added up to the sum total of the modern day Turkey, making the country truly unique.