The past few years have been significantly turbulent for Hong Kong's aviation industry as airlines suffered from COVID restrictions and limited demand. Fortunately, China's reopening became the game-changer Hong Kong carriers need for a proper recovery, with several airlines already pushing for bigger plans. One such carrier is Hong Kong Airlines, which announced a major hiring spree.

Looking to expand a talented workforce

With the rapid recovery of air travel demand in sight, Hong Kong's second-biggest carrier recently re-activated several employees on long-term leave back to their original positions to further support its current flight schedules. However, Hong Kong Airlines has bigger plans for its operational needs and growth, and is now seeking 1,000 recruits to join its workforce by the end of 2023.

This will include 120 pilots, 500 cabin crew, and 380 ground staff hired locally and overseas, bringing the total workforce back to approximately 60% to 70% of pre-pandemic numbers. Considering the airline is competitively hiring against other players like flag carrier Cathay Pacific, the airline is also implementing salary increments for both crew and ground staff.

Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A330-300 at Hong Kong International Airport
Photo: Chingtung Lee | Shutterstock

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The salary increment will include an 8% basic salary rise and up to a 10% increase in the flying hourly rate for crew members. All ground staff will receive a 5% basic salary distribution in addition to a discretionary 5% quarterly variable incentive that took effect on January 1st this year. The distribution of such quarterly variable incentives is based on the airline and individual performance.

Not only will the salary adjustments attract more recruits, but it's also the airline's way of showing appreciation to existing employees for riding out the three-year storm. Chairman of Hong Kong Airlines, Hou Wei, expressed his sincere gratitude by saying:

"Our staff has continued to embody the spirit of ‘Truly Hong Kong,’ to remain vigilant while also delivering the best possible services to the airline and our customers throughout the course of the pandemic.”

Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A330-300 | B-LNP
Photo: Soos Jozsef | Shutterstock

Expecting to achieve full capacity by next year

While Hong Kong Airlines is working hard to reconstruct its workforce to at least 60% of pre-pandemic numbers, the airline aims to return to at least 75% of pre-pandemic capacity by the end of this year. If such plans don't seem ambitious enough, the airline also expects to achieve full pre-pandemic capacity by the middle of next year.

The ambition comes as the airline expects to increase its flight operations to 30 sectors per day by this month alone. It will fly to 15 regional destinations, such as Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa, Sapporo, Seoul, Bangkok, Hanoi, Manila, Taipei, Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Haikou. Before the pandemic, Hong Kong Airlines flew to more than 32 destinations, which means these flight services will relate to approximately 50% of pre-pandemic capacity.

With plans to offer more flights in the coming months, especially to China, Hong Kong Airlines is confident in its recovery ambitions, as emphasized by Wei:

“We have leveraged every travel recovery opportunity over the past few months and continue to see positive business growth, particularly from the Japanese markets. Mainland China will be the next market to contribute significantly to our travel recovery efforts. As such, our flights to the Mainland double up to 35 sectors per week starting from January 10th to offer more travel options for our customers."

Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A320-200 flying in the sky
Photo: Sudpoth Sirirattanasakul | Shutterstock

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Bottom line

It seems Hong Kong Airlines is gradually returning to the right flight path after its HK$49 billion ($6.274 billion) debt restructuring plan was approved by the courts last month. The airline's recovery has been long-awaited and will certainly help the frail state of Hong Kong's aviation industry, especially as more of the nation's carriers also begin their fast-tracked recovery process.

What do you think of Hong Kong Airlines' recovery ambitions? Tell us in the comments below.