A secret "hit list" of nearly 200 pilots Hong Kong
airline Cathay Pacific considered for sacking during a bitter 2001 dispute with
cockpit crew was Wednesday circulating among staff, dpa reported.
The list - leaked by an unknown member of the management panel that decided
which pilots to fire - includes the 49 pilots fired during the dispute and
around 100 pilots still with the airline.
Serving pilots on the list include a deputy chief pilot with the Boeing fleet
and a number of senior training captains. All but a handful of them had no idea
they were once shortlisted.
The airline, which confirmed that list of 195 pilots was genuine, has never
before acknowledged the existence of a short list of out-of-favour pilots ahead
of the infamous sackings in July 2001.
The document has been lodged as evidence in Hong Kong's High Court for an
unfair dismissal action against the airline by 16 of the sacked pilots known as
the 49ers, expected to be heard next year.
It was leaked to the Cathay Pilots Union, a breakaway union backing continuing
legal action against the airline by the 49ers who have not settled their cases
with the airline.
The union claims the list proves that Cathay deliberately targeted members of
the main union the Aircrew Officers Association and that airline officials have
"lied" over how sacked pilots were selected.
Cathay fired the pilots to break a work-to-rule by cockpit crew in a
long-running dispute over pay and rosters.
Executives have since claimed the 49ers were selected after the employment
records of all 1,500 serving pilots were scrutinized over a two-day period
before the sackings.
The Cathay Pilots Union Tuesday emailed the list to all 195 pilots on it, along
with a letter appealing to cockpit crew who escaped dismissal to support the
49ers' court case.
"Look at the list. You're on it. It could have been you," the letter
says. "You escaped termination but you could have been one of those
selected to have your career destroyed. You could so very easily have been a
49er."
A Cathay spokeswoman confirmed the list was genuine but said: "We will
continue to robustly defend ourselves in any forthcoming proceedings as we have
done in the past.
"We stand by all the evidence we have given in past proceedings. It will
be up to the courts to decide on these matters, as is right and proper."
Separately, a Cathay management source speaking on condition of anonymity told
Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa: "All of this happened in 2001. It's now 2008.
"We have been working with the pilots, including some of the 49ers who
have been hired back, over the years. As far as we're concerned, this is a red
herring."