strategy review a ‘top priority’:...
TRANSCRIPT
A magazine for staff and friends of Cathay Pacific Airways
Worth the weight Cargo terminal bid submitted
news
More trophies for airline paddlers
Nature at its bestThe wonders of Yellowstone
travel
A winning streak
features
Taking the desertby storm
Gruelling Gobi run
who, what, where
Page 4 Page 9 Page 14
Strategy review a ‘top priority’: Tyler
Page 16
July 2007, Issue 136
A new era in the air
Powering up!
Momentum is building up on all fronts for the entry into service of B-KPA, the first of CX’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft which will be delivered in September.
Various departments are busy in dif-ferent areas, and some are even mark-ing their progress in creative ways.
The Technical Services – Power-plants team is working with engine manufacturer General Electric on getting the huge GE90-115B engines ready for fitting on the aircraft – a col-laboration commemorated with this neat little sticker that will go out to everyone connected with the project.
• See page 5
New Chief Executive Tony Tyler says a review of Cathay Pacific’s strat-egy will be a top priority as the air-line moves forward.
In an interview with CX World, Tony says it is important to clarify what the airline is doing and define what goals the company is trying to reach.
“Of course we have a strategy to prosper and grow, and we will con-tinue to aspire to that, but as a strat-egy it is very general and covers a wide range of things. We need to fill in the gaps,” he says.
Tony took over the Chief Execu-tive reins on 1 July, with John Slo-sar, previously Managing Director
of Swire Beverages, coming back into the CX fold as Chief Operating Officer.
Former Chief Executive Philip Chen took up a new position as Chairman of John Swire & Sons (China) on the same day, keeping his CX connec-tion through a place on the Board as Deputy Chairman.
Tony admits he’s “stepping into some pretty big shoes”, but says he’s in a fortunate position because the airline – and the Group – is currently in very good shape.
• See page 3 for the full Tony Tyler interview and a
profile of the new COO.
Flight Attendant Janice Cheung stands proudly beside B-HOT, the Boeing 747-400 that gained a special place in the fleet after it became the first to be fitted with Cathay Pa-cific’s all-new, three-class long-haul product.
The aircraft went into service on 29 June and within a few days was plying the skies between Hong Kong and major long-haul destinations such as London and San Francisco.
Passengers have already experienced the First and Business Class cabins on an earlier retrofit on B-HKT, so a lot of interest is being shown in the Economy cabin featuring a rev-olutionary seat that reclines in its own shell.
There’s also a brand-new inflight entertain-ment system with audio and video on de-mand in Economy for the first time.
CX World went to visit HOT on a recent turn-around in Hong Kong and grabbed the first pictures of the new product onboard.
• See page 8 & 9
HOT STUFF: The new product offers an enhanced level of comfort in all cabins.
Profitable growth still a focus ‘but we need to fill in the gaps’ says CE
Produced by CX’s Corporate Communication Department
7/F North Tower, Cathay Pacific City, Lantau, HK
Publisher: Dane ChengManaging Editor: Mark Tindall
Editor: Chris BisogniEnquiries: 2747-5293GalaCXy ID: CCD#SCT
Email: ccd#[email protected]
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news
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Performance Index
Training for Singapore base crew beginsThe first batch of 24 newly recruited Singapore-based cabin crew ar-
rived in Hong Kong on 9 July for their mandatory six-week train-ing which will see them being
instilled with CX’s signature “Ser-vice Straight from the
Heart” culture and groomed into one of CX’s inflight service
providers. A total of 44 flight attendants have
been recruited for the latest crew base. The team will begin op-
erating turnaround flights between Singa-
pore and Hong Kong from September.
Thousands of entries, thousands of reasonsMore than 20,000 entries were re-ceived for CX’s “100 Reasons We Love Hong Kong” campaign, which closed on 8 July.
The competition, which is giving away 1,000 tickets as part of celebra-tions for the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, received entries ranging from photographs and anecdotes to poems and even recipes as the public displayed their love of Hong Kong.
A huge range of reasons were given among the 20,500 entries received, 11,700 of which came from Hong Kong and 8,800 from overseas.
Spare a thought for the judges who had to shortlist the thousands of en-tries into a list of 300.
Members of the public are being invited to participate in deciding the final list by voting online at www.welovehongkong.hk between 16 and 29 July.
“The campaign has been an over-whelming success and the standard of entries really impressed the judges,” says Dane Cheng, General Manager Corporate Communication.
The round of public voting will help to determine the top 100 win-ners, though the judging panel – which includes Dane as the CX representative alongside well-known figures from the Hong Kong community – will also play a part in deciding the final list.
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Passengers carried 1,883,521 +1.9%
Passenger load factor 81.0% -0.1pt
ASKs (000) 8,227,349 +1.5%
Freight carried 129,169t +1.3%
Cargo load factor 65.9% -3.4pt
ATKs (000) 1,843,433 +5.0%* Figures for June 2007
Within 15 minsIndustry standard
on-the-dot CX standard
Traffic/capacity (CX + KA)*On-time performance
84.1%
53.4%
n CX backs aerospace expoCX has been named as the Official Carrier of the Asian Aerospace International Expo and Congress 2007, to be held in Hong Kong from 3 to 6 September.
The four-day event, the larg-est dedicated civil aerospace showcase on the international calendar, will feature more than 500 participating companies from over 20 countries.
Tony Tyler, CX’s Chief Execu-tive, will be one of the speakers presenting a perspective on the Asia Pacific’s role in the global aviation industry.
n CSR report praisedCX’s first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report, pub-lished in May, has received warm praise from one of Hong Kong’s leading environmentalists.
Eric Bohm, Chief Executive Of-ficer of WWF Hong Kong, wrote to say how impressed the WWF was by the airline’s “realistic and encouraging” commitment to the environment.
“The information on fuel ef-ficiency and air traffic manage-ment is fascinating and I now have a greater appreciation of the complexities involved in air transport,” he wrote.
Mr Bohm expressed his appreciation for CX’s involve-ment with the Asian Waterbird Conservation Fund, “but it is your commitment to improving environmental performance that is the most gratifying”, he said.
n Award nomination for TVCsFour CX television advertise-ments, “Friendship”, “Boss From Hell”, “My Brother and Me” and “Rugby Sevens 2007”, have been nominated for the TVB Most Popular TV Commercial Awards 2007.
“My Brother and Me” has already been awarded one plaudit, being named as one of ATV’s top 10 TV commercials from last year.
The TVB awards are voted by members of the public through the online voting system at www.tvb.com or at Circle K, Park N Shop, Aji Ichiban and OTO stores or through TVB Weekly magazine.
Voting closes on 22 July and the awards ceremony will broadcast live on TVB Jade on 5 August.
Briefs
Global takeoffs exceeded
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We love HK too!CCD thanks all staff who shared their reasons for loving Hong Kong in the “We Love Hong Kong Staff Competition” held last month. More than 130 entries were received – from creative artworks to expressive written compositions – and each entry a showcase of love for Hong Kong.
CX Manchester Key Account Executive Cargo Dave Milk’s visual entry scored major points with the judges for its creativity in highlighting the best of Hong Kong – including Cathay Pacific.
Second prize went to Customer Services Officer Zoe Fan who submitted a moving piece on falling in love with Hong Kong.
Food was a favourite theme and First Officer Vee Ram’s third-placed entry showed why “there is no other place in the world that conjures images of global food more than Hong Kong”.
Visit the “We Love Hong Kong” website on IntraCX to see the other shortlisted entries.
VISUAL TREAT: Dave Milk’s creative winning entry.
HUGE TASK: Dane Cheng (left) with members of the “100 Reasons” judging panel: Peter Moss, Robert Chow, Carol Lam, Chip Tsao and Andrew Chan. All the judges were impressed by the variety – and quality – of the entries that made the final 300.
2.5millionfor the first time in May – up 5% on the same month last year
Campaign attracts a worldwide display of affection for Hong Kong
Produced by CX’s Corporate Communication Department
7/F North Tower, Cathay Pacific City, Lantau, HK
Publisher: Dane ChengManaging Editor: Mark Tindall
Editor: Chris BisogniEnquiries: 2747-5293GalaCXy ID: CCD#SCT
Email: ccd#[email protected]
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news
New Chief Operating Officer John Slosar is finding his feet after an 11-year break from the CX
What will be your first priority as Chief Executive?My job as Chief Executive is to de-cide on the strategy of the airline, determine what the goals of the company should be, and then make sure we can reach them, directing our resources in the right areas.
I’m in a fortunate position because everything is in good shape. The priority is to clarify what we are do-ing, and what goals we are trying to reach. One of the things I am asking John (Slosar, Chief Operating Officer) to do early on is to lead a review of our strategy. Those who have been around long enough to remember the mid-1990s will recall that this was something we did quite a lot of.
Of course we have a strategy to prosper and grow, and we will con-tinue to aspire to that, but as a strat-egy it is very general and covers a wide range of things. We need to fill in the gaps.
Do the recent changes in the company make a strategy more important?So much has changed in recent years. We are now a group, includ-ing Dragonair, and have a major net-work in China. That’s new. Where we get our revenue from has changed a lot and the structure of our revenue has changed too. Now, even the fuel surcharge is a very important com-ponent of our revenue. Then there have also been changes in the com-petitive environment, and our cost structure is hugely different from what it was a few years ago.
So many things have changed and there’s a need to review where
we want to go, review how we want to get there, make plans and then make it very clear to all Cathay Pa-cific people what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
Are you looking at ‘quick hits’?There will be some quick hits, no doubt, but equally some things will take a lot longer. From my point of view the main thing is to decide quickly how we are going to grow the business profitably, and what we’re going to do about some of the challenges we face, and then com-municate that to the team.
Things are good right now, but there must be areas of concern?I am worried about the cargo down-turn, for sure, but in general what worries me is the competitive situa-tion. Apart from the Hong Kong car-riers, which we have to do a good job of competing with, we’ve also got enormous competition coming to us from the Middle East carriers who are investing massively without the financial constraints of normal commercially run companies.
But I don’t want to be too gloomy about things. I do see enormous opportunity, in particular from driving network traffic to and from the Mainland, but it’s not just go-ing to happen – we have to make it happen.
Dragonair would appear to be important in this respect?Dragonair is of course massively im-portant. By doing the deal last year, at a stroke we’ve given ourselves a better network in the Mainland than
any other non-Mainland carrier. It just seems so right to be where we are now and be a complete Hong Kong carrier. We would have been in a much weaker position if we hadn’t done the deal last year.
As for the synergies, we can’t dis-close numbers but the figures com-ing out of our revenue department in terms of the additional revenue we are now getting are completely up with our expectations. And these are real benefits; it is not just clever account-ing, this is real incremental revenue.
Is there a lot of work still to be done? I think we’ve moved really fast and done very well in terms of bringing the two organisations together, but the integration is inevitably going to be a work in progress for a while.
We need to do more work in the areas of branding and product, for example, and we have just an-nounced changes on the crew plan-ning and rostering side to improve that area of the operation.
Is anything concrete going to happen on the Air China front?The Air China relationship is going to bear fruit over the longer term. We have agreed with Air China that we will be doing things together – code sharing, joint ventures on common routes and the cargo joint venture in Shanghai. Work is still on-going in many areas but I can assure you things will happen.
How important are the new 777s and the new product for CX?I am very excited about both and
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Thousands of entries, thousands of reasons
New Chief Executive Tony Tyler speaks to CX World about the challenges
and opportunities ahead as he “steps into some pretty big shoes”
‘Delighted’ to be back in the airline worldIt’s been more than a decade since John Slosar last trod the corridors of Cathay Pacific’s headquarters.
In early 1996 John was happily ensconced in the airline as General Manager Airline Planning when a phone call from then Chairman Pe-ter Sutch led to a move to HAECO.
“In 1998 I had another phone call from Peter and he said he wanted me to switch to the Coke business. I asked why, and he said, ‘you can speak American to Coke, right?’” laughs John.
For the next nine years, as Man-aging Director of Swire Beverages, John was focused on building “the world’s biggest brand in the world’s biggest market”.
“When I took over at Swire Bever-ages, China was a tiny business that was losing money, but it obviously had all the potential in the world,” says John.
“The most important thing we did was to develop a China strategy and to execute it, and the business has been growing at 20 per cent a year for the past five years as a result.”
The potential of the Mainland market will still be a big focus for John as he settles in as Chief Op-erating Officer at CX. Perhaps the biggest change at the airline since John left in 1996 is the merger with Dragonair and the acquisition of a strong Mainland network.
“This is a great development for us – any airline in the world would give anything to have that network,” says John. “The KA merger and the shareholding in Air China create a lot of opportunities. The potential’s there and it’s up to us to decide how we want to realise it.”
There have been many changes in the airline and the industry as a whole since John was last with CX,
and some things have already made a big impression. Cathay City, for example – “a big improvement over the split thing we had at Kai Tak” – and the airline’s product.
“The product’s just got bet-ter and better,” he says. “I spent a huge amount of the past seven years travelling on airplanes and I was able to see things from the customer end. The service and de-pendability you get from CX is sec-ond to none and people who travel a lot know that.”
John always had the airline in-dustry in his sights. He was keen to work with CX when he joined the Swire group in 1980 (“they listened to me, so that’s where I ended up!” he laughs). He worked in a variety of departments over the subse-quent years with a highlight being when he was drafted in to bring San Francisco online in 1986. There was another break from aviation when Swire appointed him to Ocean-routes in 1988, designing optimal routes for ocean shipping.
Being brought back into the CX
fold was a surprise, “but I’m delight-ed,” says John.
The first priority is to get to know everyone – “and it’s great to see so many friends and familiar faces around,” he says.
“Given all the opportunities we have I think it’s a good time to take stock, think through our strategy and look at how we can compete effectively, develop our product and develop the Dragonair/Air China potential.”
On the staff side, John says his ex-perience of running various entities outside CX has enabled him to de-velop his own ideas on how things work best, particularly relating to the working culture.
“We have to make sure we make the time and effort to grow and de-velop the people working in CX and I will ask my direct reports and GMs to pass on this message.” he says.
I’ve been very personally in-volved with both. The 777 is just a great aircraft and it’s going to be a winner for our customers, our crew and our bottom line. It’s a very efficient long-haul aircraft that will suit our market very well.
And the new product is also a fantastic product in all three class-es, with the biggest splash prob-ably being made in Economy. The Business Class is very different to what we’ve done before and the fishbone layout is something that some people say they don’t like. But it’s the only way of getting an economical number of seats flat, and it’s becoming one of the in-dustry standards.
Have there been teething problems with the product?There are a a few things in Busi-ness and First Class that once we’ve got a bit more experi-ence we may want to modify or change, but we’ve got to keep this in perspective. I’d really like everyone in the company to get behind and support it, because it is something all of us at CX should be very proud of.
Regarding the delay in the roll-out, we had a project plan that all looked good at the start but we were probably a little too op-timistic. Other airlines have had worse issues with delays and cost overruns so although the delay is disappointing things could have been much worse!
• Continued on page 4
A strategy for success
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news
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Minutes to spare as terminal bid goes in
It was a just-in-time delivery when Cathay Pacif-ic submitted its bid to build and operate the third cargo terminal at Hong Kong International Airport.
Cargo’s terminal programme team arrived at the Airport Authority offices with about 15 minutes to spare before the submission deadline on 25 June.
The delivery was made more complicated by the sheer size of the tender document, which consisted of 54 box binders in six big boxes along with 18 tubes filled with A1 drawings.
“It weighed more than 170 kilograms and it took four of us to push it into the office,” says Pe-ter Lee, Cargo Terminal Programme Manager.
Preparation for the cargo terminal submis-sion started back in December 2005 when CX first proposed the idea of a terminal to the Air-port Authority, stressing that such a facility was
necessary for the long-term competitiveness of Hong Kong as an air freight hub.
A programme office was formed to work on the project and a world-class team of consultants assembled to work on the design of everything from the design of the building and the mechan-ical handling system to safety and security, fire and traffic engineering and environmental pro-tection during operations.
“We also had various delivery groups working on different areas such as the warehouse opera-tions planning, trucking logistics, HR planning and economic benefits studies,” says Peter.
“We have submitted a first-class tender and it was a great team effort in which everyone pulled together,” says Peter. “My sincere thanks to all of them.”
A huge weight off their minds
FINAL SUBMISSION: Samson Leung, Margaret Lo, Jackie Chui, Ken Lu, Ian Hung and Peter Lee from the Cargo Terminal Programme team with their 170kg pile of documents.
• From page 3
All these new aircraft are arriving, but where are we going to fly them?To be honest there’s not a lot of places that you can fly to profitably from Hong Kong that we don’t cover already so the main strategy is to build up and thicken up the hub and the net-work. We will strengthen some major long-haul services soon – Melbourne, Vancouver, New York, for example – and will also announce some new regional destinations that are being facili-tated by having the Dragonair A320 fleet.
Will cargo remain important?In a good year cargo has accounted for 30 per cent of our revenue. This year it will be less than that because demand is down (and passenger revenue has been going so well). In the long run we are very optimistic about Hong Kong as a car-go hub and I’m very excited about the deliveries of the new cargo 747-400ERFs next year and our bid for the cargo terminal, where we have made a strong case. Actually it’s a compelling case.
We do have decisions to make about the Clas-sics because their reliability is below par, and the maintenance levels and fuel costs are high. We are looking at when they should be phased out, and as each one approaches a heavy and expen-
sive maintenance check we’ll review whether it’s worth spending the money.
The environment seems to becoming an ever-bigger issue?It’s definitely a huge issue for us at the moment, and for the industry as a whole. There are some very active environmentalists now and I think the airline industry has been given a bum rap, if you pardon the expression. Awareness and sensitivities on this issue will inevitably increase in Asia. I hope that when it does it will develop into a more responsible and balanced way. I think Cathay Pacific can help to influence how attitudes develop in this region, and we need to play a leadership role.
On a more personal level, how do you feel about what you’ve achieved?I am delighted to be here and I think I’ve got the best job in the airline industry. I’d like to pay trib-ute to Philip Chen, who did a wonderful job, and David Turnbull before him. When I was prepar-ing to take over I was conscious of the fact I was stepping into some pretty big shoes.
It’s a great time to be coming into this job. Ex-citing things are happening and we’ve got some great teams working here. It’s a real privilege to be given the chance to lead this airline.
Tony Tyler outlines need for strategy review
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Excitement as wilderness adventure begins
With the arrival of Cathay Pacific’s first Boeing 777-300ER just a couple of months away, teams in various departments are busy working on preparations for the aircraft’s entry into service.
The focus for the Technical Services – Powerplants team is on making sure the airline is ready for a new engine type – the massive GE90-115Bs that will power the new fleet addition.
GE has been putting the two en-gines for CX’s first 777-300ER, B-KPA, through their paces at its test facility in Peebles, Ohio.
The engines will be shipped to Boeing’s Seattle plant in August to be fitted on the aircraft.
David Vowles, Technical Services Manager – Powerplants, says his team, in conjunction with other Engi-neering sections, is working through
Tests on the giant GE90 engines for the 777-300ERs are underway
an entry-into-service checklist that includes making arrangements for the delivery of the first spare engine.
“It’s so big, the engine has to be split for transportation, with the fan and propulsor being brought to Hong Kong separately,” says Dave. A team from Boeing, GE and HAECO will reassemble it when it arrives on 15 September.
Also high on the agenda is getting the next level of ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Per-formance Standards) approval from the Civil Aviation Department.
They’ve got the power!
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n A true taste of IndiaIndian food will be the spe-cialty fare on flights to and from Bombay and Delhi as a result of a special promotion running from 1 August.
CX recently enlisted the help of Chef Satish Aurora, Director of Food Production at India’s Taj Group of Hotels, to help the CPCS team in the preparation and pres-entation of dishes.
The promotion, the second of its kind in CX’s history, is running for three months and will be served on all flights to and from the subcontinent.
n More flights for Dallas, AtlantaContinued strong demand to Dallas and Atlanta has led Cargo to add more flights on the freighter route.
The four-times-weekly service will be upped to six flights a week from 25 July, with another flight added from 25 August to make it a daily operation.
All flights will be operated using a Boeing 747-400 freighter.
n ISGs on callWith the typhoon season immi-nent, Immediate Support Group (ISG) members are being readied for supporting customers and col-leagues at the airport in the event of disruptions.
The Contingency Planning Department is now in the proc-ess of conducting callout tests, activating ISG callout through the Web-based crisis system Einstein.
Members are being asked to respond to the test calls to allow CCP to gauge how resources can best be allocated in the event of a real disruption.
n CX to control KA’s crew administrationDragonair’s crew resource functions, including rostering, planning and control, will be ad-ministered by CX under a service level agreement between the two airlines.
The integration is part of an effort to achieve greater efficiency in crew management as KA’s fleet and network grows.
All KA ground staff affected by the consolidation will be em-ployed by CX.
Dennis Leung, currently CX ICM Scheduling Manager, will be sec-onded from his position to oversee this latest integration project.
Briefs
The number of Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club members worldwide as of June was more than
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FlAsHBACK
…and, as it is now, CX was counting down the days for the arrival of a new aircraft type into its fleet.
Delivery of the first Super TriStar, the name coined for the Dash 100 long-range version of the Lockhead L-1011 widebody, was just months away, following 10 months of assembly in Palmdale, California.
The Super TriStar was configured to carry 286 passengers, including 20 in First Class, and could carry 8,200 kilograms of fuel.
To brand the aircraft’s 178 foot fuselage in CX colours, a 45-tonne moving gantry was used with eight painters taking just 40 minutes for one coat of paint.
As you can see in the story above, delivery of the new Boeing 777-300ERs is just a couple of months away.
May 1975….
“This will be our first long-haul ETOPS operation – we’ve used only four-engine aircraft previously – and we are targeting 180/207 approval at entry into service,” says Dave, mean-ing the aircraft can operate on routes up to 180 or even 207 minutes away from the nearest diversion airport.
The ultimate goal, he says, is 240 minutes ETOPS.
Dave says the GE90 – which re-cently set a new world record by gen-erating 127,900 pounds of thrust – is a superb engine that will generate a lot of excitement in the airline.
“Captain John Gough, GE Flight Operations Support Director, will be at CX in September to take the 777 pilots through the engine from a FOP perspective and I’m sure they’ll be as excited about it as we engi-neers are,” he says.
777 countdown
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The Cathay Pacific International Wilderness Experience 2007 officially began on 10 July when 38 students and delegates jetted off on CX749 to Johannesburg.
Cathay Pacific has continued its associa-tion with the “Experience” which was estab-lished in 1994 and promotes environmental awareness and fosters a deeper understand-ing of cultural differences.
To date more than 550 students from 17 countries have had the opportunity to par-ticipate in the adventure and promote cross-cultural understanding.
A total of eight Hong Kong student se-lected for this year’s experience will join together with 30 delegates from nine other countries and territories including the Main-land, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Ko-rea, Taiwan, Pakistan and South Africa.
TEST RUN: With 127,900 pounds of thrust, there is plenty of grunt in the GE90s seen here being put through their paces at Peebles.
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The online poll
Dessert is my weakness, so in an ideal scenario I would like to see a lot of yoghurt and ice cream served.
For me this is as important as the main meal.
Kenny WongCGO
Japanese food such as sushi, sashimi and green tea. This is my favourite cuisine and I only get to
have it once a month, so more of this would be great.
Lydia YipGlobal Logistics
Desserts such as chocolate brulee would be nice. I have a sweet tooth so candies to snack on would
also be a nice addition. I also think other snack food such as potato chips should be served.
Anita ChoyFIN
Dim sum, which I think would be more suitable for our Chinese passengers as well as myself. I like
shrimp rolls and congee, so this would be my ideal inflight eating experience.
Alex LeungENG
I would like salad as an appetiser and then steak or beef as the main dish and then finish it all off with
marble cheesecake. That would be my perfect inflight meal.
Louisa ChanPSS
What would be your ideal inflight meal?
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feedback
Send us your feedbackWe welcome feedback from anyone in the CX network on any issue affecting the airline or the industry. Please email your letters to CCD#SCT. Not all letters will be published but those that are will be edited for length and to comply with the CX World style.
The sender of the star letter each month will win 3,000 Asia Miles. The Feedback page is sponsored by Asia’s leading travel reward programme.
Manager Product, Sarah Blomfield replies: The first part of any redesign exercise is to understand the business imperatives that we need to fulfil. In this case, we were clear that the three things we needed to achieve were, minimal seat loss from the existing configuration; a flat bed; and privacy.
The primary benefit to the pas-senger of this configuration is sleep-ing comfort, in a private environ-ment. On long-haul sectors, sleep is the most important requirement for business people who are going straight to work when they arrive.
The height of the partitions was tested with passengers to deter-mine the optimum height that afforded the privacy that they de-sired, as well as many other features such as larger PTVs, improved width at the shoulders, ergonomically sit-uated controls and technically ad-vanced “memory foam” seats.
Thanks for your comments, and please send us your feedback if you fly on the new Economy Class!
Too rushed?My biggest frustration is coming from an outport on an ID ticket and having to go through Hong Kong immigration, claim my bags and then clear customs. Then, if I am ac-cepted for travel, it is always a mad dash to check in my bags and go back through immigration.
Is this absolutely necessary? Can we not standby at the transit desk instead?
Cecilia MendozaSupervisor, Inside Sales and Ticketing
New York
Personnel Manager Overseas & Employee Services, Bob Nipperess replies: Thanks for raising this point Cecilia. When HKIA first opened we
did provide a transfer desk for ID passengers. However, the facility was withdrawn because of the ef-fect ID traffic was having on our full-fare customers.
We did a further study to see if setting up a dedicated transfer desk to handle ID passengers was feasible, but it couldn’t be justi-fied on cost grounds.
Where flights departing Hong Kong are open, we do through-check ID passengers whose jour-neys originate in outports. How-ever, for the reasons given above, we cannot currently accept ID passengers at our transit desks and they need to continue using landside counters.
Destination where?While we were promoting Desti-nation China last month, I found it disappointing to note the lack of leisure travel information about the Mainland uploaded on Travel Desk such as details of leisure-travel hotels and photos.
Can we make use of the abun-dance of information from Destina-tion China to enrich our Travel Desk? And can we encourage various Mainland ports to help supply de-tails of special rates at local hotels?
Angela LiewGeneral Manager Abacus
Benefits Services Manager, Jes-sica Chan replies: Thanks for your comments Angela. We are keen to further promote travel in Mainland China wherever possible but, due to copyright issues, we cannot re-use the Destination China photos for Travel Desk.
The QuizOur first prize this month comes courtesy of the very generous people from the Lotte Hotel World,
who will welcome the lucky winner to a three-night deluxe room package with
breakfast for two people.Overlooking the beautiful Han River in Seoul,
the Lotte Hotel World offers a great variety of choices with its 507 recently renovated guestrooms. The hotel boasts three restaurants and bars and 14 meeting and banquet rooms. Other features include duty-free shopping and a department store, a sauna and swimming pool, and the Lotte World Adventure, the world’s biggest indoor theme park, right next door.
This year the Lotte Hotel celebrates its 33rd birthday and the chain includes the Lotte Hotel Seoul and hotels in Busan, Jeju and Ulsan.
Visit www.lottehotel.co.kr for more information.
Second prize is dinner for two at ‘SPOON by Alain Ducasse’ at the InterContintental Hotel in Hong Kong. Since it opened in October 2003, ‘SPOON by Alain Ducasse’ has been one of Asia’s most innovative dining concepts featuring contemporary cuisine inspired by chef and restaurateur Alain Ducasse, the world’s most awarded chef.
“SPOON by Alain Ducasse” is open daily for dinner and on Sundays for lunch.
For reservations, call 2313-2256
or email: spoonbyalainducasse.
Star letter
Have we got it right in Business Class?
I was excited recently when I re-alised my trip to Japan coincided with the first revenue flight for B-HOT, our first aircraft with all three classes of the new long-haul prod-uct fitted.
I was travelling in Business Class and looked forward to seeing how the new seat shaped up. However, to be honest I was a little disap-pointed. While the seat itself was comfortable I found the herring-bone format a bit strange – you feel very cut off from everyone in the cabin.
Also, while I understand the need for privacy I felt that the partitions between the seats are a bit high. I found it hard just to sit and read a newspaper, for example.
Can our Product team comment on why our new Business Class cab-in has been designed in this way?
Name withheld
To enter, visit the online quiz entry form on the CX World site. The deadline is noon on Friday, 3 August.
Last month we asked you “How does the new-look CX World compare to the old version?”You answered:
Check out the CX World website and Daily News on IntraCX for next month’s poll question.
However, we hope we will be able to make use of the great shots sent in by staff for the Destination China photo competition (see page 10). We will continue to look at ways to further improve the information provided on Travel Desk and have been in touch with Mainland out-ports to encourage them to share more information.
Nice gymrenovation, but...
I like the recent gym renovation but have one small gripe: the size of the LCD displays dotted around the walls is too small. It’s easy to see the screens if you’re working out on the machines closest to the wall, but if you’re on the second tier of machines it’s quite a struggle to see anything.
Wouldn’t it have been better to have three bigger screens instead of six small ones?
“Pumped up”
Headland GM, Rod Munro replies: Our initial design plans were set up to encourage maximum television exposure incorporating blue tooth headphone technology.
Following your letter, we immedi-ately replaced a number of the 23-inch units with larger 32-inch units to improve viewing accessibility for treadmill users in the gym.
We do sincerely hope the chang-es provide all gym users with bet-ter accessibility to our new LCD units and make your workouts more pleasurable.
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Letters to the Editor
7
In her two years as part of KA’s PRC Management Trainee programme, Luna Xing has worked in a number of the airline’s various departments, but there was one key element missing from her preparations when she made the move
from her native Shanghai to Hong Kong.In Shanghai, Luna worked in Passenger Sales,
Marketing, Cargo Sales and Cargo Services for Dragonair, but it was the culture shock of moving to Hong Kong that took her by surprise.
“It was difficult to adapt to life here in the beginning,” Luna recalls. “The different culture and language was tough, and not even being able to understand what was on television made it even harder!”
However, after witnessing the fireworks for the 10th anniversary of the HKSAR, and with help from her colleagues, Luna started to feel right at home.
“The staff here in Hong Kong have been really nice and helpful which has made life a lot easier for me here. I have been introduced to a lot of people and have been taken good care of,” she says.
Now in her third year of the trainee programme, Luna is excited about working at Dragonair’s headquarters.
Her next challenge will be to master Cantonese and further explore Hong Kong and all that it has to offer.
KA PeoPle
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Getting ready for oneworldPreparations are well underway for Dragonair’s entry into the one-world alliance as an affiliate, with a wide variety of processes already in place for the official launch date.
While that date is still to be determined, both CX and KA are work-ing across various departments to ensure the full range of oneworld’s services and benefits will be available.
CX is the sponsor airline for KA’s inclusion, and has been pro-viding all the necessary assistance and guidance to ensure KA will fulfil all the requirements before joining the alli-ance.
Airports will be very much in the spotlight and a number of working groups have been established between CX and KA to look at different areas including IT automation, train-ing, baggage handling, lounges and the placement of oneworld signage.
“The aim is to get all frontline staff to be familiar with the policies and procedures associated with the alliance,” says CX’s Network Per-formance Manager Emil Tam.
Emil says one issue affecting the preparations is that many of KA’s outports are based in Mainland. “As such, we have to ensure our IT in-
frastructure is up to speed as the various ground handling agents we use - as the oneworld alliance demands very high standards.”
KA’s Manager Services Delivery Norman Chan, who is overseeing the airline’s progress, says everything is on track, despite the enor-mous task facing staff.
“We’re currently looking at our counters and how we utilise these, as we anticipate an increase in premium connecting passengers
from oneworld who will be using the Business Class counters,” says Norman.
Another area that is a strong focus is KA’s lounges.“We are also working on the issue of the lounges as de-
mand is certain to rise and the Dragonair lounges – particu-larly in Hong Kong, Kaohsiung and Shanghai – will need to
be able to handle an increase in demand.”Norman says KA’s inclusion into the oneworld alliance is excit-
ing for everyone associated with the airline.“The benefits to KA as well as oneworld are enormous. The alli-
ance’s network will provide feeds into KA’s network and vice versa, while the brand endorsement of oneworld will help promote KA to another level,” he says.
Young cadets presented with the opportunity of a lifetime Seven Hong Kong youngsters with a genuine passion for the aviation industry have been chosen to take part in this year’s Dragonair Aviation Certificate Programme.
First launched in 2005, the unique five-month programme is a joint initiative between KA and the Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps, which aims to inspire a new generation of aviators in Hong Kong.
This year’s programme was launched on 22 June at the Hong Kong Aviation Club where the seven cadets were introduced and their programme was outlined.
Seven KA pilots will take the cadets under their wing and give them first-hand knowledge and real-life experience about air op-erations.
The mentoring programme in-cludes training sessions, briefings and tours of aviation-related organi-
As official carrier of the “Pride of China: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy of the Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties from the Palace Museum” exhibition, Dragonair left nothing to chance when it came to deliver-ing the masterpieces. Under tight security the precious cargo arrived at HKIA for the exhibition which is a joint presentation by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Palace Museum.
The exhibition has been extremely popular. The museum had specially arranged advance sale of admission tickets, and more than 8,800 tickets were sold prior to the first day of exhibition on 29 June.
A special VIP viewing for CX and KA management was held at the museum on 12 July.
sations such as the Civil Aviation Department, HAECO, HIAS and the Airport Meteorological Office of the Hong Kong Observatory.
“The Dragonair Aviation Certifi-cate Programme marks our con-tinued efforts to inspire young people in the Hong Kong com-munity,” said KA Chief Executive Officer Kenny Tang at the launch ceremony.
“The programme has been en-hanced this year, enabling us to cover an even wider range of avia-tion-related subjects.”
Already the cadets have toured the Air Traffic Control Tower at HKIA to find out more about its daily operations, how the equip-ment works and basic flight regu-lations and standards.
The Dragonair Aviation Certifi-cate Programme runs from 1 July to 30 November.
CHOSEN FEW: KA’s Chief Executive Officer Kenny Tang and the Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps’ Group Captain Leonard Leung with the seven cadets.
Mainland airports a focus in preparations for joining alliance
Handled with great care
Tai chi rewards Five years ago Se-lina Kwan attended one of Dragonair’s lunchtime tai chi classes and im-mediately felt a connection.
Today, Selina, KA’s Manager – Per-sonnel, Cabin Crew is an award-win-ning tai chi artist in various disciplines of the martial art.
Selina has won several awards
and participated in a number of tournaments, she is a regular participant in the traditional tai chi category – “three minutes” – and earlier this year won the silver medal at the International Taijiquan Invitation Tournament, organised by the Hong Kong Wushu Union.
There are many different styles of tai chi and over the years Selina has learnt and come to ap-preciate the different forms, including her personal favourite “Tai Chi Sword”.
“I enjoy practicing tai chi with a sword as I can hold onto something, which I prefer to practicing empty-handed,” she says.
Those who think the slow and majestic move-ments are easy should think again.
“It is not easy to practice as it requires the coordination of your whole body, particularly your legs,” Selina says. “But tai chi is good for your health and I feel more energetic in mind and body after I practice.”
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First Class Business Class
Economy Class
Some like it HOT!B-HOT made its long awaited debut last month with the new inflight product in all three classes
A new era began for Cathay Pacific when CX504 took off from HKIA bound for Tokyo on 29 June.
The flight marked the debut for B-HOT, the first of CX’s long-haul aircraft to be fitted with the airline’s
new inflight product in all three classes.This is the first time the new Economy Class cabin has been seen – B-HKT went into service in May with just the First and Business Class cabins in
place. One passenger’s reaction – “fantastic, spot on”– reflects the general feeling about the revolu-
tionary new YCL seats.The Economy seats feature a fixed back to increase living space and comfort for passengers, as well as
personal 9-inch TV screens offering the new eX2 inflight entertainment (IFE) system.
The new IFE includes audio and video on demand with 50 movies, more than 100 TV shows, over 160 CDs, 22 radio channels and 96 games for First and
Business, and 83 for Economy Class. Qualitative feedback on the new Business Class
seats indicates that individual travellers in particu-lar are very happy with the sleeping comfort and
privacy they are afforded.“It’s been worth the wait and we look forward to when we are able to offer all our long-haul pas-
sengers the same comfort that B-HOT passengers have enjoyed these past few weeks,” says Manager
Product Sarah Blomfield.
• Staff reaction – see Feedback, page 6
TOP CLASS: A foldout table provides a comfortable area for passengers to work or relax, complementing a bed that can accommodate even the tallest of passengers. Each First Class suite also has a personal closet.
REVOLUTIONARY: The Economy Class seats recline within their shell increasing comfort for passengers, while the new inflight entertainment system provides a broader range of on-demand audio and visual choices on bigger personal TV screens.
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‘Go, go, go!’
The other team was a boat length ahead and our hopes seemed to be fading fast. It was hard to forget that our rivals had won the women’s championship at Discovery Bay many years in a row.
I could only think of what our Captain Stanley Tam had said before we got in the boat. “CX ladies have never won a championship trophy. Do you think we’ll get one this year?” he asked “Yes!” we all cried – but now it looked like our promise was not to be fulfilled.
Then suddenly we experienced a surge and our female rowers paddled furiously to the finish line at Discovery Bay. We could see Stanley on the beach, looking as if he had been slapped by a fish. And then the splashing water, hugging and screaming brought me back to reality – we had won the Ladies Championship in a time of 2:11:06.
The screaming got even louder later when the Mixed Team came first in the Plate final, finishing in a time of 1:55:12. The usually subdued CX staff suddenly got raucous – and with good reason, because it was a record-breaking year.
WINNERS ARE GRINNERS: The CX team were in party mode following their success in this year’s dragon boat races at Discovery Bay (above).
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Senior Purser Carmen Heredia was one of the paddlers as the CX dragon boat team hauled in the
trophies at Discovery BayIn May we took second place in
the Ladies Plate and third in the Mixed Bowl at the Deep Water Bay Dragon Boat Race. Then it was off to Malaysia for the Penang International Dragon Boat Race on 11 June, where we took second spot in the International Airline Race.
The competition was tough at the Mui Wo Dragon Boat Race on 17 June but our team spirit pulled us through to grab the runner-up prize in the Ladies Gold Cup.
After the champagne corks popped in Discovery Bay our hopes were high for the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Race on 23-24 June, but it wasn’t to be this year.
Our total haul for the season? A grand total of seven trophies, breaking all records since the formation of the Dragon Boat Club in 1984.
Even if you have not paddled before, you should think about joining us next year. Our sole aim is not to win, but as our team captain l says, “just take it easy and have fun”.
We certainly have fun – and we sometimes destroy the opposition along the way!
Business Class
Economy Class
Some like it HOT!B-HOT made its long awaited debut last month with the new inflight product in all three classes
PERSONAL AND PRIVATE: Greater privacy and more personal space are key features of the Business Class seats, allowing business travellers the perfect environment for long-haul travel.
IT’S OURS: Author Carmen holds the cup while ISD’s Amanda Hung (left) joins the celebrations.
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10
Mainland discoveries Staff took part in a wide range of activities during Destination China
Vivian KwokLanguage Training SpecialistPutonghua
What are your main roles and responsibilities?As a language-training specialist in Putonghua, I am responsible for conducting Mandarin language and communication training for all levels of staff. I help with the provision of language assessment services and act as a conduit for external language institutions to provide Asian language development for staff.
What are some of the challenges you face in your role?I am in charge of the training for all new cabin crew and ground staff which equates to around 8,000 assessments a year. Sometimes I do feel some pressure. However, I go by the motto of “no pain, no gain” and with the support of my colleagues and fellow trainees have been able to overcome any challenges.
Is your job getting any easier or harder? A bit of both, to be perfectly honest. When it comes to routine training, assessments and communicating with external institutions, these tasks get easier and easier. What is becoming tougher is improving the standard of Putonghua at a corporate level. What are people’s expectations from language training?Some hope they will get plenty of opportunities to use and practice Mandarin, so as trainers we can implement more interactive and role-playing activities.
How do you see your role developing in the future?As CX expands into the Mainland market, and with the ongoing integration with KA, Putonghua will become an important tool in our corporate business development. In addition to carrying out training courses we should look at other language-training activities, campaigns and workshops to further develop a proactive learning atmosphere. What is your advice to anyone who wants to learn a language?“Practice makes perfect!” The most effective way to learn a language is to take every opportunity to listen and speak that language. I always motivate trainees to communicate in Putonghua throughout the entire day’s training.
WHAT I DO
It was three fun-filled weeks of lunchtime activities at Cathay City as staff immersed themselves in all things Chinese for Destination Chi-na, which kicked off on 11 June.
There were plenty of activities for staff to participate in. Putong-hua Week from 11 to 15 June tested staff on their knowledge on Chi-nese cities and provinces and at the same time encouraged participants to speak the Mainland’s national language.
Staff also had plenty of fun at the promotional booths where they sampled dragon candy and tried their luck at winning hotel accom-modation packages generously sponsored by KA Holidays.
Ties with aviation were not for-gotten with guest speakers Tian Baohua, Principal of Civil Aviation Management Institution of China, and former CX Director Raymond Yuen addressing staff in the Audi-torium on 18 and 28 June respec-tively.
Rounding off Destination China on 29 June was a rousing Chinese orchestral performance by students from the St Mary’s Canossian Col-lege.
“This is the first time we have featured a country on such a great scale at Cathay City, “ says Benefits Services Manager Jessica Chan, who credits a team of Management Trainees who helped put the pro-motion together with support from Personnel and the Training & Devel-opment Centre.
“Overall, Destination China was very successful and helped to raise staff awareness on the Mainland and Dragonair,” Jessica adds.
One of the highlights of Destination China was the photo competition where staff were invited to share their favourite photos of China.
Close to 170 entries were submitted and an entry titled “Ladies Club” by Catherine Chan (ISD) emerged as the grand winner. Her photo shows a group of Yunnan farmers who were waiting in the market square for Tibetan dancers to perform.
“The winning entry is a very well-composed photo which displays a really nice snapshot of daily life in China,” says CCD photographer David McIntyre, who was one of the judges in the contest.
All the shortlisted photo entries will be posted on IntraCX soon.
Ladies Club is the winning shot
MADE IT: The Destination China working team organised three weeks of activities at Cathay City that included noodle making, musical performances, Putonghua riddles and holiday prizes.
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11
Management centre opens for new productImprovements to passenger experience, lower costs promisedA new Cabin Management Cen-tre has been established at CX, responsible for overseeing the air-line’s new aircraft and products.
To be managed by HAECO, the centre was conceived as a result of the increased complexity and diversity of CX’s fleet. The objec-tive of the centre is to reduce the number of cabin defects and re-lated inflight service failures.
The result will be an improve-ment in the passenger experience as well as a reduction in mainte-nance and passenger compensa-tion costs.
“The introduction of new seats, cabins and inflight entertainment in First, Business and Economy cabins, as well as the imminent de-livery of brand new aircraft types,
A walk on the wild side
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Authors out in force as new crew book takes flightThose who enjoyed read-ing last year’s The High Life: In the Air with Cathay Pacific Flight Attendants will be happy to hear a fol-low up book has just been published.
Just like its predecessor, The High Life II is a compi-lation of stories written by CX cabin crew.
Previously published in Ming Pao Daily, the stories offer readers fasci-nating insights into the professional
and personal lives of CX’s inflight service providers.
This time, 57 sto-ries by 21 crew made it into the book. Six new writers have joined the pool this year, including Di-rector Service Deliv-ery Quince Chong
who wrote about the training that prepared her for manage-ment flying.
A new DVD produced in association with Cathay Pacific shows a side of Hong Kong far removed from the usu-al skyscraper-and-shopping cliches.
Explore Wild Hong Kong! goes be-yond the busy cityscape to discover the natural diversity and scenic splendour of the city.
Primarily aimed at tourists – but equally interesting for residents – the programme takes viewers deep into the wilds of the New Territories, ex-plores the rugged charm of Lantau and highlights some of the great walks just minutes from dense urban areas.
The DVD, produced by Asiatic Ma-rine in conjunction with Dr Martin Williams and sponsored by CX, is on sale now at CXcitement outlets, priced at HK$60. Plans are afoot to show the programme on flights and make the DVD available to passen-gers through inflight sales channels.
Dr Williams, a local writer, photog-rapher and ecological consultant, says the idea for Explore Wild Hong Kong Kong! grew out of his involve-ment with Environment Manager Linden Coppell in the Sustainable Tourism Task Force.
“In one meeting we were coming up with suggestions for raising the profile of local nature tourism and Linden said ‘what about a video?’ I thought it was a great idea,” he says.
Charles Frew, Asiatic Marine Direc-tor and Explore Wild Hong Kong Kong! presenter, was also keen on the idea, and as the momentum grew CX was approached and agreed to back the production.
“Hong Kong is our home and we are delighted to be able to show some of its diversity,” says General Manager Marketing Charlie Stewart-Cox.
Linden says the 28-minute DVD, which comes with a printed guide to some of Hong Kong’s best walks, dovetails with the airline’s environ-mental goals.
“We are always keen to promote the green side of our home city, ” says Linden.
Proceeds will go to the CX-backed Asian Waterbird Conservation Fund.
Airport stars honoured for service excellenceThe Airports department paid tribute to 23 air-port staff from Hong Kong and various outports last month for their dedication in providing the highest level of customer service to Cathay Pa-cific passengers.
Unlike previous years, where the award was tagged to the ASM Conference, this year’s event was a standalone function. Catalina’s, with its magnificent views of the Hong Kong International Airport, provided the ideal setting for the presen-tation ceremony.
General Manager Airports Anna Thompson praised the awardees for their commitment to service excellence and said they have helped CX to “deliver superb safety standards, outstanding service and excellent products to our passengers”.
“We believe there are many attributes to Ca-thay’s profitable growth, but there is no doubt our people are the most important element,” Anna said. FRONTLINE: Airport staff gather to receive thanks from AHQ for their high levels of service.
OPENING UP: HAECO’S Mark Hayman (left) and Michael Bluck (right) with ENG’s Steve Chadwick at the centre opening in June.
element to the team’s success is the close alignment across vari-ous departments such as Prod-uct, APD and ISD,” Clive says.
The HAECO engineers and planning staff analyse all de-fects in real time as they are re-ported, and perform necessary troubleshooting, spares iden-tification and manpower co-ordination to ensure the most timely rectification. In addition a more proactive inspection schedule is being adopted to avoid in-service failures before they occur.
The new Cabin Management Centre, which is located on the ground floor terminal, is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
WRITE STUFF: ISD Managers and cabin crew authors at the book launch.
has brought about a greater focus on how to manage our product in the future,” says Clive Montgomery Cabin Maintenance Manager.
The original vision, to have all CX’s cabin equipment suppliers working together with the maintenance pro-
viders in a single integrated team, has now become a reality.
“The team is multifunctional and includes staff from CX Line Mainte-nance, Inventory Operations, Pro-curement, Technical Services, and Engineering Planning. An integral
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outports
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The North America team held an orientation event re-cently for 12 participants of the “In Search of Roots” pro-gramme, which helps young Chinese-American people in their quest to learn more about their ancestry.
This is the second year CX has sponsored the pro-gramme, developed by the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco. The airline again provided tickets for the young participants to fly to Guandong for a two-week trip in which they visited their ancestral villages in the Pearl River Delta region.
“It is clear that there is an increasingly strong desire for Chinese-Americans to learn about their heritage and we are delighted to be able to support them,” says Senior Vice President Americas Alan Wong.
“Many of them have never been to China before, so the journey gives them a chance to walk in their ancestor’s footsteps. I know that we’ve made a differ-ence in their lives and hope that future generations will be inspired by their stories.”
This year’s “In Search of Roots” programme began with the selection of the participants in February fol-lowed by a kick-off event in March.
Conducted over 12 months the programme in-volves an exploration of the participants’ Chinese roots in the States, genealogy workshops and semi-nars on the history of the Chinese in America.
The programme culminates next Chinese New Year with an exhibition of the their research and experi-ences at the Chinese Cultural Center.
Wham, bam, thank you fam!A media familiarisation trip to Hong Kong led by the Surabaya team in June generated better-than-expected coverage.
Three national media organisations – two newspapers and one radio station – joined the three-day trip which aimed to promote CX and its Hong Kong home in the buildup to the student holiday season and the Lebaran celebration in October.
Manager East Indonesia Clement Tam says the coverage was “excellent”, with two of the media organisations publishing articles over three days.
“They covered the usual angles, such as cabin products and lounges, but they also put a focus on our high safety standards and the Halal food
preparation at CPCS,” says Clement.“The whole trip cost us less than
HK$3,000 but if we had to pay for the equivalent newspaper space and air-
time we received it would have cost us more than HK$100,000 in total – a very attractive return on investment!”
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a new era in SydneyAs reported in last month’s CX World, Chairman Chris Pratt was in Sydney early last month to open the new CX regional office in Swire House.
The office opening began with Chris cutting a ribbon and then followed the Chinese custom with an energetic and noisy lion dance, that spread goodwill blessings as it wound its way through the premises.
The opening was hosted by General Manager South West Pacific Ivan Chu, with CX staff joined by guests such as Jenny Wallis, Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Development Office in Sydney, and Bill Rothery, Chairman of John Swire & Sons Pty Ltd and a former CX Australian GM.
The move, after 43 years in the former Swire House at 8 Spring Street, was made right next door into the new Swire House at 10
another star turn for FrancesRecords were broken during the Penang State Chinese Orchestra’s 10th Anniversary celebrations. A total of 1,097 students performed at a concert with special guest Frances Yip, earning a place in the Malaysian Guinness Book of Records.
Frances’s trip to Penang was sponsored by CX. The singer was the airline’s ambassador in the 1970s and 1980s and actually performed at the celebration when CXPEN came online 30 years ago.
A Nonya lunch was held in honour of Frances and she’s pictured here with Penang’s District Sales Manager Charles Wong on her left.
Two airlines, one team!As part of the ongoing integration of CX and KA, the Hangzhou office recently hosted a series of team-building exercises, bringing together staff from six eastern China ports including Shanghai, Ningbo and Changsha.
The June event included a workshop designed to discuss ways to increase productivity and efficiency in dealings between the two airlines.
The seminar also provided an opportunity for staff to bid farewell to Aaron Chan (top right), who is moving to Thailand as Country Manager, and welcome Clarence Tai, who takes over as KA’s Manager, Shanghai & Eastern China.
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Spring Street in the heart of Sydney’s financial area. The pictures show (from far right) the lion arriving to bless
Ivan’s office, Chris Pratt and Bill Rothery with CX/Swire “man about the building” Ibrahim Faour (centre), and Customer Sales Officers Maria Huynh and Jenny Porter taking a break to enjoy the celebrations.
Prime Minister praises CXChief Executive Tony Tyler flew to Bahrain last month to meet with HE Prime Minister Sheikh Kahlifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who praised the airline for its role in promoting travel and tourism between Hong Kong and the kingdom.
Joined by HE Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s Deputy Prime Minister, the Prime Minister outlined Bahrain’s commitment to encouraging aviation interests in the kingdom and commended the good relationship between CX and Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air.
Tony in turn thanked the Prime Minister for the continued support CX has received from the Government of Bahrain and congratulated him on being awarded a UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour for his leadership role in improving the living standards of Bahrain’s people.
Going back to their roots
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Fam-tastic experience for german agentsThe CX Frankfurt Sales & Marketing team worked together with the German office of the Hong Kong Tourism Board for the “SuperCity MegaFam”, which targeted 120 German travel agents who specialise in selling Hong Kong and Asia.
The German agents (right) became fully familiarised with the delights of Hong Kong during a packed programme, with CXFRA Marketing Communications Manager Tom Melzer welcoming the group and updating them on what’s happening at CX.
A highlight of the tour was at an exclusive lunch in the Peninsula’s Felix restaurant.
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getting MPos into the swingThe CX France team organised a golf tournament for elite Marco Polo Club members in the country at the end of June, with the action taking place on the fairways of a course in Chantilly, north of Paris.
Around 25 members enjoyed the weekend break and it was Giang Leang who took home the top prize on the day.
M. Leang’s golfing prowess has earned him a free ticket on CX and an invitation to play an MPO golf event in Hangzhou in October.
Standing the test of time
Few – if any – people in CX can match Tracy Lim’s track record, having moved office five times and changed jobs seven times during the course of her career.
Tracy, Personnel & Admin Manager Malaysia & Brunei, joined CX in April 1974 as a Telephone Op-erator but soon moved to Res-ervations & Ticketing.
“My first job was with a small travel agent. I joined CX be-cause it would give me better prospects, but I never imag-ined I would be a manager one day,” says Tracy.
During her tenure Tracy has worked with a grand total of 18 Country Managers – many of whom rose to the top in CX. She has fond memories of them all and remembers all of their quirks.
“My first expat boss wrote very short but always effective letters while another was the opposite – his letters were very lengthy and I guessed he must have majored in law!” she laughs.
Outside work, Tracy keeps her-self busy on weekends by swimming and pottering in her garden.
“I’ve been experimenting with my new toy too – churn-ing out smoothies!” she smiles.
A mover and shaker
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A tale of two cities
Raymond Ma has been sec-onded to Dragonair as Manager Chengdu & Western China but the city of Xiamen will always hold a special place in his heart.
Raymond was responsible for setting up the CX office in XMN in 2005, which he recalls was a challenging task. “It was my first time managing such a big proj-ect that involved areas I was not familiar with,” he recalls.
Everything from getting gov-ernment approvals to complet-ing business registrations pre-sented a challenge.
“Head Office provided great support, though, and things worked out smoothly in the end. I am happy to see Xiamen devel-oping well,” he says.
Raymond is equally excited about the potential of his new port.
“Chengdu is an ancient city with a population of 10 million and many things to see,” says Raymond.
Top of the list are sights such as Mount Emei, the Leshan Gi-ant Buddha (the world’s largest) and the popular Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Centre.
“And don’t leave without try-ing the famous hotpot and spicy
Sichuan food!” he adds.
On a Mainland mission
MOVING ON: Raymond has fond memories of his time in Xiamen but is now focused on business in Chengdu.
NUMBERS CRUNCH: Five office moves, seven roles, and 18 bosses. Tracy has taken them all in her stride.
Culture vulturesCathay Pacific Italy was the sponsor of “Il Drago e la Farfalla”, a Vietnamese cultural festival staged in the Italian capital with the backing of the local government.
Pictured at one of the events are, from left, Silvia Tagliaferri, Sales & Marketing Manager Italy, fashion designer Minh Hanh and Mary Retzler, Marketing & Communications Manager Italy.
Silvia and Mary feature in another shot (below), which was taken at a dinner held when General Manager Europe Philippe De Gentile-Williams visited Rome.
Also present were Country Manager Rob Bradshaw and the Vietnamese ambassador.
Following months of intense training CX’s Manager Revenue – Europe, South Pacific, Middle East & India, Richard Sell, successfully completed the seven-day Racing the Planet event in the Gobi Desert.
Richard and his team of four finished an impressive second in the team category placing them joint 31st overall out of 180 runners. The event was as challenging as it was unforgettable.
The first four days were dominated by 40 kilometres of running across a diverse range of ter-rain including riverbeds (below right), dirt roads, sand dunes and mountain passes. Day five was no easier, with an 80 kilometre run through dry desert, coupled with some treacherous river crossings. Following a much-deserved rest day, the final challenge featured a 10 kilometre dash through the city centre of Kashgar.
“It was tough but very doable, as long as you tackled it one stage at a time and managed to stay injury-free, but once blisters and leg problems started your whole race could become a nightmare,” Richard says.
Despite battling exhaustion, Richard and his fellow runners maintained a positive outlook throughout the event.
“The big climb on day three was probably the hardest part, but I was luckier than most in that my feet held up through-out,” Richard says. “Overall the experience was so energising, we were able to motivate each other as we knew it was a great experience and also a very important cause.”
Richard and his team managed to raise HK$200,000 for Spi- nal Research.
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who, what, where
The book of love
CX World welcomes all new staff who joined in the month of June. Here is a selection of the newcomers who recently came onboard
Welcome aboard….
Erica PengInflight Sales & Logistics Manager
1. Who’s your favourite author? I enjoy reading all kinds of books because they broaden my knowledge and perspective. Recently I have been to a series of lectures by Yu Dan, a Chinese professor who interprets a classic Chinese work, Analects of Confucius, in her own insightful way.
2. What kind of music do you like? Anything romantic, harmonious or relaxing – Norah Jones, the Carpenters and Singaporean singer Stefanie Sun Yanzi.
3. What’s your latest indulgence? Spas and shopping. My new job in Inflight Sales gives me a good excuse to do more shopping!
4. The best thing about being a woman is … We can always find and create beauty in our lives.
5. Best food – Hong Kong or Beijing? I love Hong Kong food, especially the Cantonese soups, which are very tasty and healthy.
6. What makes you happy? Things as simple as a sunny day or an email from a long lost friend can make me happy.
7. What’s the best thing about working for CX? Being able to travel around the world so cheaply. Exploring the world was my dream as a little girl and now it is just a ticket away.
8. What was your last trip outside Hong Kong? I went to Lijiang in Yunnan Province – such a beautiful and peaceful place.
9. Your dream destination and why? I always believe it’s not where you go but who you travel with that makes a wonderful trip.
10. Where’s your favourite hangout? ... Shopping malls. :P
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Elaine Chui – Cabin Crew Communications ManagerElaine is no stranger to the airline world and returns having tried her hand, most recently, in
the hospitality industry.“I used to handle public relations and issues management for British Airways and Qantas before
working for the Paua Group, which was in the business of wellbeing and beauty,” says Elaine.“I have set a goal of meeting every one of the 6,931 cabin crew here at CX – so far I have met about 50!”
Raymond Chow – Procurement ExecutiveRaymond, who brings with him six years’ experience in the manufacturing industry, will be
working as part of the procurement team in Engineering.“CX is such a well-known company and the challenge of working in the airline industry was
one I could not turn my back on. My first impressions of both the people and my role are very positive,” he says.
Kaff Chan – Flight AttendantA recent graduate in architecture from the City University of Hong Kong, Kaff says his desire
to meet and help people is why he chose a career with CX.“Every aspect of my training has been of great benefit and I cannot wait to represent Cathay
Pacific in a professional capacity as a Flight Attendant,” he says.
Brian Chan – CRM AnalystBrian will be responsible for the coordination, development and operations of e-journey
services, such as Online Check-In, notiFLY, and flight schedules on mobile sites for cathaypacific.com and dragonair.com.
“Cathay City is the epitome of efficiency, a work environment where we can dine, exercise, stay in a hotel, locate ATM machines easily and so on. It really makes for a pleasant and productive experience,” says Brian.
CX staff are getting into the publishing business in a serious way, with the latest offering coming from FOP’s e-Learning Development Specialist Euterpe Chu.
Unlike other publications written by the airline’s staff, Euterpe’s booklet - Easy Days in Slo-venia – is very personal. It was produced to help raise funds for the Caring for Children Founda-tion (CFCF), a local charity that helps the needy in Mainland China through various education and rehabilitation programmes.
“I first learnt about CFCF when a friend asked if I could help out at their command centre in Hong Kong, “ says Euterpe.
It was the same friend who knew about her love of travel and photography and asked Euterpe if she could use her travel photos for a worthy cause.
“I couldn’t say no. After all, happiness is in giv-ing,” says Euterpe.
Euterpe painstakingly selected some 30 photos from the thousands she took in Slovenia to be included in the booklet. She composed a Chinese poem to accompany the pictures and even translated it into English for the benefit of non-Chinese readers.
“Being in Slovenia was like being in a fairy tale. I was in awe of the beautiful castles and the serenity of Bled Lake. I was at peace with myself and the world,” she sighs.
Staff who want to buy a copy of Easy Days in Slovenia – and contribute to the CFCF – can contact Euterpe at FOPEYC. There is no set price for the book and all money donated goes direct to the charity.
1. Elaine Chui – Cabin Crew Communications Manager 2. Raymond Chow – Procurement Executive 3. Kaff Chan – Flight Attendant4. Brian Chan – CRM Analyst
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Oneminute with...
A gruelling Gobi run
READ ALL ABOUT IT: Euterpe with the fruits of her labour.
DESERT STORM: Richard (second from left) and his Gobi March team.
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who, what, where
Not many people can remem-ber where they were or what they were doing on 7 March 1966, but Raida Tsui can tell you both – the date marked her very first day at CX.
Fast forward to 5 July 2007 and Raida has just ended her career at the airline, having completed 41 years of ser-vice. She stayed in the same department (Airports) and in the same role, Staff Adminis-trator, though back in 1966 her official job title was Typ-ist.
During her time at CX, Raida was responsible for monitoring headcount and consolidating staff numbers, arranging permits, reporting work injuries, supporting colleagues and general office administrative duties.
“I have been blessed to work for a company like Cathay Pacific for so long,” she says. “Back in the 1960s the industry and airline travel in gen-eral was a true luxury so it has been such a pleasure to be able to provide travel opportunities for my mother.”
Raida says among the many highlights during her 41 years has been the understanding nature of all her bosses, of which she estimates there have been more than 10, as well as the inclusive nature of CX and how it has helped and involved her family.
Her brother, Paulo Chan, joined CX as a Freight Offi-cer is 1968 and was with the company for almost 30
years, while her other brother, Erico Chan, joined in 1973 and is currently Assistant
Manager, Dispatch, Training & Stan-dards, Flight Operations.
A special dinner was held at the Kwai Fong Maxim’s restaurant last month for Raida’s colleagues to bid her a fond farewell, and wish her a well-earned retirement.
Farewell Raida after 41 wonderful years
Are we there yet? Ricky Chong and Christine Lau
prepare for landing on CX743.
Flower Power!: Saying goodbye to Anna Thomson, General Manager, Airport, who’s leaving AHQ for the Singapore office.
May Air Force One be with you. ROM’s Alberto Nanni and Flight Care Italy’s Sabrina Santoprete are in good company.
Bear with us! Kathy, Patrick, Lynn, Cecila and Angus
are greeted in true Alaskan style at Anchorage
International Airport.
Happy birthday to us! HKG’s Carol, Elaine, Christine, Joyce, Winnie and Iris celebrate a trio of birthdays.
Taking a break. Miko, Ani, Anita, Alain and Mandy enjoying some quality time in Surabaya.
Helping those who help. The ICM Help Desk
team get ready to enjoy a pizza lunch.
Gather around. Taking a well-earned break from the Mumbai office in Hong Kong’s famous Lan Kwai Fong.
WE’LL MISS YOU: Raida Tsui and General Manager HKIA Victor Ho at her farewell dinner.
Stuck in the middle. The crew gather to say
farewell to ISM Cindy.
The more sedate side of S&R was on display on 10 June when CX hosted an inter-hong game day featuring darts and cards.
In the darts event, staff from CPCS, ENG, ISD, PSD, FIN and REV stepped up to the oche, with steady hands and keen eyes helping them take second place.
In the card game, the CX team came third while Frank Fan (APD) was champion in the individual event.
Anyone interested in the noble sport of darts is welcome to join the practice sessions on Tuesday evenings at Dakotas – contact Rudolf Wong on ENGWYH to find out more.
HELLO AND GOODBYE: Raida ends 41 years of service at CX (above). In the 1960s all office staff were required to wear CX uniforms (above right).
CX team is game on!
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Flight Attendant Ming Lo sent in this evocative shot of a camel train silhouetted against the setting sun in Dubai – grabbed during a desert safari on the her first trip to the emirate last year.
She and fellow crew joined one of her ex-classmates, now working for Emirates, for the desert adventure that started with a bumpy ride in a four-wheel drive.
“After that we rode a camel, but only for a few minutes, and then we enjoyed the lovely sunset you can see in this photo,” says Ming.
The safari, which comes highly recommended by Ming, finished with dinner and a belly-dancing show under the stars.
Check out more of Ming’s pictures at www.fotop.net/CheekyMonkey
Natural wondertravel
Dragonair’s Kyle Yuen saw Mother Nature at her finest during a visit to one of the world’s best known national parks
n Mount Fuji hikingTake a break from shopping in Japan and try scaling Mt
Fuji, which is open to climbers now until 31 August.
Try starting from the fifth stage – take the Fuji Kyuko line to Fuji-Yoshida station and then a bus to Fuji-san Go-go-me to get there.
The walk is between five and seven hours to get to the top and about half that to descend and there are pit stops all along the route.
Many people aiming for the summit choose to walk through the night, reaching the top shortly before dawn to take in the spectacular view.
n Langkawi luxuryThe Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa is offering CX staff a special room rate of US$120 net through to 20 December.
The deal is for a deluxe room and includes a free daily cocktail and a 20% discount on all beverages in the Breeze Lounge. Upgrades to deluxe garden and sea view rooms are available for US$10 and US$20 a night respectively.
More details on Travel Desk.
n Shopping heaven!Expect the best sale in the world at the Hong Kong Shopping Festival 2007, which coincides with celebrations for the HKSAR’s 10th Anniversary. The summer sale promises a wide range of products at low prices and there are many HK$10 specials at participating bars and restaurants.
All the details you need are at www.discoverhongkong.com/hksf/
n Glacier cruiseToronto ISM Lynn Chen wrote in to offer a great suggestion for crew on layovers in Anchorage.
Of all the things on offer, a priority should be the once-in-a-lifetime experience of a glacier cruise to Prince William Sound.
“It’s amazing to see the glacier up close, watch huge chunks of ice dropping into the ocean and see plenty of wildlife such as cute sea otters, bald eagles and even whales!”
26 Glacier Tours (www.26glaciers.com) is offering CX staff a 10% discount through to the end of September.
n Samui specialThere’s a Thai treat for CX staff at the Centara Villas Samui (formerly known as the Central Samui Village) in Koh Samui, with room rates of THB 2,250-3,600 through to the end of October.
Accommodation is in spacious private villas adjacent to a pristine beach. Rates include American breakfast.
Email [email protected] [email protected] or visit http://www.centralhotelsresorts.com/csv
Travel bites
SHOW US YOUR TIPS!CX World welcomes staff travel tips from across the network – email us at CCD#SCT
Yellowstone National Park, which straddles Wyoming, Montana and Idaho in Northwest USA, was the world’s first national park, established in 1872 to preserve its amazing natural beauty.
I learnt all about Yellowstone’s geysers, hot springs and other geothermal features in
geography classes at secondary school, so it was with great excitement that I joined with some friends to explore this vast landscape in April this year.
My geography teacher got it right: the colourful hot springs are an amazing attraction and the geysers, which can reach 55m high when they erupt, create a feeling underfoot of large explosives ready to unleash their fury at any given moment.
Yellowstone has its own Grand Canyon, which is also well worth a visit. Though not as large or as well known as its Arizona sister, the 20-mile-long canyon goes as deep as 1,200 feet, with waterfalls providing a dramatic backdrop.
If you plan to visit Yellowstone don’t forget Grand Teton to the south, which is best known for its stunning mountain vistas, shimmering alpine lakes and abundant wildlife. Buffaloes roaming against the backdrop of the Rockies might sound like an Old West cliché but it’s the kind of image you can expect to find.
Allow plenty of time to explore the park. It covers an area of about 9,000 square kilometres so at least five days are recommended to visit both Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Most of the trails are well paved and flat.
A private vehicle is a must to get around once inside the park as there is no transportation available. The nearest major airport is Salt Lake City International Airport – about five hours’ drive away.
Lodging inside the park is not recommended as it is often expensive and usually fully booked. Cheaper options can be found in Gardiner, Montana (North Entrance), open all year, and West Yellowstone, Montana (West Entrance), which is open from late April to early November.
If you’re visiting Grand Teton, the town of Jackson, Wyoming – just 30 minutes away – offers a wide range of accommodation options.
More details at www.nps.gov/yell/
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Snap happy
NATURAL BEAUTY: The picture- perfect snow-capped mountain ranges that make Yellowstone such a special place to visit all year round (left and bottom). Steam coming off the hot springs creates a mystical appearance (above). A place where the buffalo roam (below).