Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday dismissed claims of a pilot shortage, saying its ongoing recruitment drive is in line with its expansion plans.
A spokeswoman said 112 pilots are expected to join this year, while 43 have resigned, retired or leaving for other reasons.
This leaves a net growth of 69 pilots - excluding the 44 trainees who have become full-fledged pilots over the last three months.
However, this is still a far cry from the 250 pilots that chairman Christopher Pratt has said he hopes to hire this year.
The airline currently employs about 2,500 pilots.
The spokeswoman said that, when looking into the airline's recruitment progress, the number of cadet pilots under training should also be taken into consideration.
She said there are 143 cadet pilots who will be joining Cathay after completing their training, which takes 10 to 60 weeks, depending on ability and performance.
The recruitment drive comes amid growing complaints from pilots who claim they are being asked to work excessive hours.
According to a captain, pilots are assigned "field reserve" days, in which they have to show up at work ready to replace a colleague who cannot fly due to sickness, tardiness or other reasons.
There are also "home reserve" days when pilots are allowed to do their own thing, but should be prepared to answer a call to work when the "field reserve" pilots have been used up.
The captain told The Standard there have been complaints that "home reserve" pilots are being used excessively.
"It is like being a military pilot, where you can be called to fly on a moment's notice, leaving you with little personal time to relax and not think of work," he said.
"If the scheduling department was more efficient, there should be little to no utilization of home reserve crew members."
He said this inefficiency has led to a more disgruntled flight crew.
Another pilot said that while he hasn't heard of massive resignations recently, Cathay is running short of pilots.
Yet another claimed that many pilots in the United States and Britain are planning to move to Hong Kong to work for Cathay Pacific, as some airlines in the two countries are suffering.
He added that many are reportedly willing to accept lower salaries just to secure jobs.
But none of them have made an application yet, he said.
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