Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International) has announced that it will close its cabin crew base at Toronto Pearson as part of an ongoing cost-reduction programme.
According to an airline memo seen by the South China Morning Post, the carrier's management said the base's commercial viability had been a concern for some time and that it had now become "unsustainable".
In a follow-up statement, Cathay Pacific said that it had yet to decide how many of the 120 cabin crew positions located at the Canadian airport would be affected. It added that it had “no current plans” to close other crew bases located at London Heathrow, New York JFK, Los Angeles International, San Francisco, Vancouver International, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, and Singapore Changi.
The Hong Kong-based carrier is in the midst of a cost-cutting plan that aims to trim HKD4 billion Hong Kong dollars (USD512.8 million) in expenditure. In 2017, Cathay Pacific eliminated 600 jobs.
