Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. may have to cut staff and close some routes as air traffic declines after the terrorist attacks in the US, Tony Tyler, executive director for corporate development, said on Channel Nine's `Business Sunday' program.
"Airlines are cutting back routes and making all these retrenchments and Cathay Pacific is having to think about doing the same things," Tyler said.
Airline finances are under pressure following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks using commercial aircraft to destroy the World Trade Center in New York and damage the Pentagon.
Some US airlines may have to seek bankruptcy protection within weeks, after the attacks grounded flights, drove away customers and raised security costs. Asian airlines, although not as severely hurt as US counterparts, have started considering staff cuts.
"There's been a sudden decline in traffic across the Pacific and our forward bookings are also showing considerable weakness," Tyler said, when ask if US passenger numbers had dropped since the Sept. 11 attacks using hijacked commercial aircraft.
Airlines "were already suffering and expecting to suffer more and then this tragedy happened, so the industry's in a parlous state worldwide," Tyler said. "The Asian carriers perhaps not affected quite as much yet as they will be but it's a very, very unhappy situation for us."
Cathay, Hong Kong's dominant and Asia's fifth-largest carrier, reported in August that fiscal first-half profit fell 39 percent to HK$1.3 billion (US$170 million).
``For the year as a whole, it's too early to tell but hopefully we'll turn a profit,'' Tyler said, adding flights to and from Australia "are going quite well." Cathay shares rose 3.9 percent Friday to close at HK$6.70, bringing the decline this year to 53.5 percent.
The airline's Chief Executive David Turnbull said in a letter to employees that last month's hiring freeze on cabin crew and ground staff will be extended to pilots after the terrorist attacks in the US. The airline had 14,694 employees as of the end of August.
Cathay isn't interested in buying Ansett Holdings Ltd, Australia's No. 2 carrier, Tyler said. Mark Korda of Arthur Andersen, the administrator for Ansett, told Channel Nine that five groups are interested in buying Ansett.
"We've got plenty to be keeping ourselves busy with here, running our own business," Cathay's Tyler said. "We've got enough challenges to face without trying to take an airline that has very significant problems." The terrorist attacks came as Cathay pilots were conducting a go-slow campaign, started on July 3, after talks on wages and flight scheduling failed.
"They're dreaming, they're absolutely dreaming," Tyler said. "Right now, every person in Cathay Pacific should be thinking about `how do I preserve the company.' The thought of getting paid more and having more time off is just completely out of the question."
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