Briefs

n Awards roll in
Cathay Pacific was named Inflight
Retailer of the Year at the 2014 Frontier Awards on 29 October the fifth
time to win this prestigious award
since 2008. CX and its inflight sales
concessionaire, ISG, sent in a joint
submission for the award.
CX also took home multiple
honours at the U Magazine Travel
Awards 2014 (below) including
Favourite Cabin Crew, Favourite
First Class Cabin, Favourite Premium
Economy Class Cabin and Favourite
Inflight Entertainment System.
And the IT Service Centre was
awarded a Bronze medal in the
Inbound Contact Centre category
at the 2014 Hong Kong Call Centre
Association Award Ceremony.

n Extra flight for Seoul

Capacity will be increased to
Incheon from 23 November
through to 14 March 2015 with an
additional daily flight.
CX430 will depart Hong Kong
at 6.35pm and return from SEL at
1.55am, turning the route into a
seven-times-daily service for this
period.
Operations from the 2015 summer schedule will be decided at a
later stage.

n New Deli Delight website

Cathay Pacific Catering Services
has relaunched its Deli Delight
website www.deli-delight.com
with a fresh new design and
additional features.
By moving to a customercentric interface, customers can
access item descriptions and
other information easily and
the long-awaited door-to-door
delivery service will make your
shopping even more convenient!
says Pat Cheung, Deli Delight
Manager.
Professional chefs tips and recipes will be introduced in February
2015 and there is also a Facebook
fan page (www.facebook.com/
delidelight) where staff can swap
ideas and catch up with the latest
food news.

Sing Jet Kerosene

ICE Brent

Recruitment takes
on a Leaner look
Reduced wastage and simpler processes boost PNL teams efficiency
The People Departments ground
staff recruitment team has applied
Lean methodology to their work in
a bid to achieve an overall efficiency
gain, along with a sizeable reduction in recruitment lead times.
The department recruits more
than 1,200 ground positions for
Hong Kong and outports every year.
This process involves steps that
are operationally intensive: the recruitment team focuses the majority of their resources on processoriented tasks instead of giving
consultative support to the hiring
departments.
This ultimately hampers line departments when they need to deploy people resources for the business.
One of the first steps of Lean is
identifying what not to do, says
Albert Wong, General Manager
People.
There are plans to introduce automation and standardisation to

our recruitment process, but first we

need to clear the house before we
can introduce these changes.
With this in mind, the People Department joined with the corporate
Lean team to set about eliminating
wasteful processes and reduce unnecessary manual effort to achieve
more efficiency.
Using Lean methodologies, the
teams sifted through current processes to identify 21 different types
of Non Value-Added (NVA) wastages
out of 33 process steps.
Further analysis shows that 47%
of these NVA activities involved
over-processing, or are valueless
legacy tasks.
The teams prioritised 13 areas for
improvement, with the recruitment
team already taking key measures
to capture the low-hanging fruits,
or quick wins.
Although still in the first phase of
the Lean process, the team forecasts
a 14% reduction in internal recruit-

ment lead time as a direct result of

key measures taken over the next
two months. 24% of the process
steps have already been eliminated
or simplified, allowing recruiters to
devote more resources for valueadded functions, resulting in an efficiency gain of over 10%.
The true success of this Lean

What is Lean?

Lean methodologies

A five-step though process that

guides Lean implementation

Several Lean methodologies were used to help the People team streamline their
processes. Here are a few:

Specify value from the standpoint

of customers.
Identify the steps that add value
to the process from the value
stream and eliminate non-valueadded steps as much as you can.
Make these processes value flow
towards the customer by their pull.
Involve and empower employees.
Continuously improve in pursuit
of perfection.

ransportation

Inventory

project is not measured by the KPIs,

but by the sustainability of this
mindset across the department and
the company at large, says Albert.
This requires the team to constantly ask themselves innovative
questions that challenge the status
quo, and implement Lean measures
with passion and determination.

Root cause (fishbone) analysis: Use a fishbone diagram to identify all

possible causes and relations, and identify and prioritise top problems for
improvement roadmap.
5-why analysis (right): Using iterative question-asking techniques that
leverage information from answers, to explore the cause-and-effect relationships
underlying a particular problem.
Failure mode and effect analysis: Using a structured approach to identify
how a process can fail, estimate the risk associated with severity and occurrence
of failure, and prioritise the risks that the team needs to address. Risk priority =
Severity x Occurrence
TIMWOOD waste analysis (below): Identifying wastes related to
Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Overprocessing and

Motion

Waiting

Overproduction Overprocessing Defects

Taking cargo
into the future
New platform set to replace 30-year-old legacy IT system
Hot on the heels of the rollout of the Passenger
Services System (PSS) comes the development
of the Cargo Service System, or simply CSS.
The scope of CSS covers the replacement of
legacy systems CUBIC (a reservation and handling system) and AMBER (a revenue accounting system).
Described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Cargo to build a platform for its future
business development, the CSS programme
reached a significant milestone last month
when CX signed a contract with a leading cargo
IT provider, the Luxembourg-based CHAMP
Cargosystems.
Under the agreement, CHAMP Cargosystems
will deliver a new cargo IT solution called Cargospot to replace CUBIC and AMBER.
Cargospot is a community system that serves
more than 60 airline customers.
CX will subscribe to the software as a pay-asyou-go service.
Apart from reduced running costs compared
to CUBIC, CSS also makes way for opportunities
such as more efficient up-selling, which drives
incremental value; as well as timelier decisions
on the deployment of aircraft types.
Close to 23% of the companys revenue
comes from Cargo. The success of CSS is essential to CXs continued success, says Lionel Kwok,
General Manager CSS.
The new systems will be connected to 26
other systems at CX, serving 107 ports including freighter ports and impacting more than
2,000 staff users working in CGO, GHA, FIN, GGT
and IMT. It is a large, complex project, and I
would be grateful for everyones support, Lionel says.
n

DEAL SEALED: (From left) James Fernandez, VP Global Commercial Operations, CHAMP; Alan Glen,
GM Cargo Services; James Woodrow, Director Cargo; and John Johnston, CEO, CHAMP.

The new system will roll out in phases around

the network from early 2016 onwards.
The journey will not end with the cutover
however, as CHAMP has committed to allocating development resources to accommodate
Cathay Pacifics business requirements in the
first five years following the rollout, as well as
n

community development.
The CSS programme also includes a revamp
of Cargos business intelligence carried out by
IMT.
Business intelligence is the set of tools used
to transform raw data into meaningful information for business analysis.
n

Pilots honoured for airmanship

Senior Captain Malcolm Waters and Senior
First Officer David Hayhoe were once again
honoured for their outstanding airmanship on
CX780 on 13 April 2010.
Their safe handling of a totally unexpected

Chief Executive
Message

inflight emergency earned them the prestigious Hugh Gordon-Burge Awards, given out
by the Honourable Company of Air Pilots at
their annual Trophy and Awards dinner on 23
October in the Guildhall, London.
Earlier this year, Malcolm and David received
the Polaris award from
the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA).
It is a tremendous
privilege to be presented
with the award. Malcolm
and I are joining a list of
previous award winners
who have carried out
extraordinary feats of
aviation skill and airmanship, and to be
considered in such
a light is quite overwhelming, says David.
The surroundings
of Guildhall in Londons
centre are steeped in his-

tory dating back centuries, and the wonderful

ceremony of the Honourable Company of Air
Pilots certainly added to the spectacle of a magnificent evening, the Senior First Officer adds.
It was indeed a grand evening made even
more special by having our awards presented
by His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent.
An absolute honour, says Malcolm.
We are delighted with the well deserved recognition that our pilots are receiving for their
outstanding airmanship on CX780 in 2010, says
Director Flight Operations Richard Hall.
The presentation of the Hugh Gordon-Burge
Award is indeed worthy recognition of their actions. The award has previously been presented to two current pilots in the company, Mark
Hoey and Steeve Michielsen, who also demonstrated great skill in very challenging situations,
Richard says.

Read Malcolm and

Davids story in the
April 2014 edition
of CX World

At the end of October we announced

an important development that
will see a more contemporary and
consistent approach to design at
Cathay Pacific.
The change began with the unveiling of a new logo a cleaner, simpler
design that is now beginning to appear around the airline. We have kept
the key element of our previous logo,
the brushwing, because it is quintessentially Cathay Pacific, but have created a crisper, fresher logo that marks
the beginning of a new chapter.
After all the fantastic work and
huge investment to upgrade our
fleet and products over the past three
years, we are now beginning work to
deliver a more consistent experience
to our customers at all touch-points in
their journey.
The new logo is just the first step.
Over the coming 18 months a series of
exciting initiatives will help to redefine
the passenger experience starting
with a new-look corporate website
that embraces our new approach to
design and offers customers a better
experience when they interact with us
online.
This new approach to design will
also be reflected in future lounge
refreshes. A brand-new look will be unveiled for the first time in our Haneda
lounge, which opens next month, and
will later be employed in The Pier and
subsequent lounge upgrades around
the network.
Staff will see elements of the brand
changes and new design philosophy,
too, with everything from crew briefing rooms to business cards being
updated over time. Its important
to stress that the rollout will be in
stages. Cost has been part of the equation from the outset so we havent
launched any projects that werent
already in the pipeline, and we will use
up old stock wherever possible.
I hope everyone in Cathay Pacific is
excited about the changes that have
begun to happen. I firmly believe
that using design to shape a better
customer experience is not just a nice
to have it is, in fact, a competitive
imperative.

Ivan Chu
3

2014

Sydney route turns 40

Staff and passengers celebrate Cathay Pacifics long-term Australian ties

1974

RECREATING
AN ICONIC AD
one of the earliest adopters of nonsmoking flights anywhere in the
world, Nelson says.
That pioneering spirit runs deep
in our team over the years, where
we embrace innovation and love to
challenge the status quo with the
aim to be the best at what we do.
The celebrations will continue
throughout October and November: CX will give out inflight shopping vouchers and airport lounge
access to selected passengers, and
run an online competition that entitles the winner to a Hong Kong holiday at The Peninsula on Premium
Economy tickets.

Did you know?

Although the first non-stop CX passenger
flight to Sydney was in 1974, in fact the airlines
first-ever commercial flight was bringing cargo to
Sydney back in 1946.
Using a DC3 called Betsy, CXs founders flew an
aircraft filled with boxes of day-old baby chicks.
The kind-hearted crew, concerned the tiny birds
would stifle in the heat over the tropics, opened
the cartons to give them air.
The cabin was soon filled with flightless
baby birds racing to and fro, which the
crew, thankfully, managed to return
to their cartons!

PARTY PEOPLE: VIP parties, staff gatherings and a water cannon salute
were all part of Sydneys 40th birthday celebrations. Also in town for the
anniversary were Directors James Barrington and Dane Cheng.

Remembering the first-ever Sydney flight

When the inaugural CX101 landed in Sydney on 22
October 1974, Iris Lim was in her early 20s, waiting
on the tarmac with seven other glamourous flight
attendants from Japan, Indonesia, Singapore,
Philippines, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
The job was the envy of many women and
difficult to attain, as a second language was
Iris Lim (second
from left)

mandatory as well as perfect English along with

style, grace and impeccable grooming.
The role was quite different from that of today.
The 707 only had First and Economy classes
(Business wasnt invented yet).
Inflight entertainment comprised playing
cards and cigarettes. There was entertainment (of
a type) in First Class when crew served meals in
silver service style. The highlight was roast meat
carved elaborately in front of the eight passengers.
Rack of lamb was always tricky. We had to add
white frills you never see them now before
carving and serving, says Iris.
There was no rest area for crew and the best
spot to take a break was an Economy seat.
It was very tiring, Iris confesses. You were
really on your feet for almost all of the time we
pretty much walked from Hong Kong to Sydney!
And you had to do it as stylishly as possible.

Photos courtesy SYDs Cindy Lowe and James Morgan

On 21 October 1974, a Cathay Pacific Boeing 707 left Hong Kong for
Sydney on a non-stop commercial
flight for the first time.
It was to be the beginning of a 40year relationship that saw the carrier
flying more than 10 million passengers between the two cities.
From its humble beginnings as a
thrice-weekly service, the route has
now grown to four flights a day, or
28 flights a week.
From initially deploying a 707,
the Sydney route has gone on to be
operated by 747s, A330s and, from
later this year, 777-300ERs.
In late October, the airline celebrated four decades of flying to Sydney in style, with a string of activities
for staff, passengers and VIPs.
The celebrations were a delightful way to thank all the staff and clients who have helped us grow into
the sizeable operation we are today! says General Manager Southwest Pacific Nelson Chin.
Sydney has been a bit of a pioneer for CX, from being the only true
long haul in our network in 1974, to
the creation of a centralised reservations office for Australia, and as

Retired Australian Captain Hal

Dyball was looking good when
he strolled down Martin Place
in October 1974, flanked by six
cabin crew just like he did four
decades ago when he starred in
Cathay Pacifics ads for the Sydney
route (pictured top and above).
The pilots face was
omnipresent back in the day.
In those days, I couldnt go to
the movies without seeing myself
on the big screen, Hal laughs. I
not only appeared in the filmed
ads, but also saw my face on
posters on the windows of travel
agents all over Sydney.
Hal was part of a group of pilots
and flight attendants who flew
on a promotional tour around
Australia to promote the launch.
They were all part of a roving
show in which flight attendants
took part in fashion shows
wearing their national costumes
and the British and Australian
pilots spoke reassuringly about
working with the Oriental airline.
Leo Schofield was then the
copywriter for the advertising
campaign and says 40 years ago,
it was important to talk up the
credentials of flight crew.
Australians were used to flying
with Qantas or British Airways,
so we wanted to reassure them
that Cathay Pacific pilots were
just as reliable and skilful in
the cockpit, and had attentive
flight attendants as well, so we
wrote the line Youll fly with
people who care experienced
Australian and British pilots and
flight engineers, charming Asian
hostesses, he says.

Broadening the
cargo network

Briefs
n Major upgrades to oneworld events

Freighter business grows with addition of Phnom Penh and Calgary

As part of a continuing push to
broaden its freighter reach, Cargo
will add another new destination
Phnom Penh to its network this
month.
The twice-weekly service to Cambodias capital city launches on 23
November and will be tagged onto
the existing flight that goes via Singapore and Penang.
Su-Yin Krishnan, Regional Cargo
Manager, Southeast Asia, says there
is huge potential in this fast-emerging market.
The garment export industry
in Cambodia is booming as major
manufacturers relocate there from
Mainland China and other Southeast
Asian countries, says Su-Yin.
Currently there is a lack of widebody services and main deck capacity out of Phnom Penh, and export
cargo is mainly trucked to neighbouring cities such as Ho Chi Minh
City and Bangkok for uplift to North
America and Europe.
It is exciting to see wide-body

capacity being introduced into Cambodia, allowing us to connect goods

seamlessly to CXs global network
and to better serve our customers,
Su-Yin explains.
The 10 weekly passenger services
from Phnom Penh operated by Dragonair will enable CX to offer more
choice and flexibility to its customers
in Cambodia.
The Phnom Penh announcement
came as Cargo concluded celebrations for its last freighter destination
launch, with a party held on 16 October to celebrate the inaugural flight
into Calgary.
Senior Vice President, AmericasTom Owen andGeneral Manager
Cargo Sales & Marketing Mark Sutch
joined a group of senior cargo staff
from the North American team to
welcome a group of forwarders and
business partners for a cowboythemed event.
Two days later, white Stetson hats
were donned once again as Director Cargo James Woodrow and Mark

The arrival of the big bird attracted

a lot of media interest in Calgary,
with reporters keen to talk to James
Woodrow and Training Captain John
Hucal, the commander for the first
flight into YYC.
John is a Calgary resident, as is Captain Ludvig Nordrum who skippered
the first flight back to Hong Kong.

Sutch joined the regional Cargo

team and a group of cargo customers to welcome the inaugural CX084
service into Calgary, with a water
cannon salute arranged by YYC Airport Authority.
Guests were invited to go onboard
the first 747-8F to touch down at Calgary International Airport.

Captain Pyes 75-mile charity swim

There were cheers and applause on
Discovery Bay beach on 2 November
when Captain Bruce Pye emerged from
the water after swimming 75 miles
around Lantau Island in five days.
Bruce, a longtime Lantau resident,
teamed up with friend Olivier Baillet
to stage the challenge in support of
Plastic Free Seas, a local charity that

educates the community on the

impact of plastic pollution to Hong
Kong waters.
Ive always wondered whether it
would be possible to swim around
the whole island and draw peoples
attention to the oceans that should
be well conserved, says Bruce.
Setting off from Discovery Bay

View Captain Bruce Pyes swim challenge video by

scanning the QR code below. He is pictured centre.

which was also the finishing point

on 29 October, Bruce and Olivier
swam 15km each day in stretches of
five to six hours.
It was a tremendous physical challenge for the pair. Bruce and Olivier
had to battle unstable chilly seas,
dodge high-speed ferries travelling
through the construction area of the
Hong KongZhuhaiMacau Bridge,
and swim into a headwind that made
waters extremely rough.
Fortunately, the pair was able to
enjoy the stunning views along the
way.
Every evening we watched the
sun set from our old fishing trawler,
where we rested after swimming
each day it was such an amazing
experience, says Bruce.
The third day was a highlight, as
some pink-nosed dolphins swam

with us when we
passed Tai O at
dawn. Its very
humbling to be so close to nature.
Bruce regards the five-day swim
as an experience of a lifetime, and
thanks all the people who helped
them throughout the challenge.
We had a great support team who
did a lot of work behind the scenes.
We wouldnt have been successful
without the support of the wonderful volunteers, says Bruce.
Bruce and Olivier have raised a
total of HK$110,000 for Plastic Free
Seas so far.
The organisation has earmarked
the funds for turning a fishing trawler into an educational and research
vessel, which will be used to carry
local students for visiting the surrounding oceans, says Bruce.

Support the cause by visiting www.justgiving.com/75kmswimchallenge,

which accepts donations for Plastic Free Seas until December. For more
information about Plastic Free Seas, visit www.plasticfreeseas.org

oneworld has unveiled a series of

significant upgrades to oneworld
events, its one-stop, easy-to-use
travel service for the conventions,
conferences, exhibitions and special
events markets.
Key improvements include the
removal of booking fees for flight
reservations made via oneworld
events dedicated website; availability of oneworld events flight
discounts via designated travel
agencies; and the expansion of
the network covered by oneworld
events to almost 1,000 destinations
in more than 150 countries.
The enhancements were
announced on the opening day of
IMEX America, in Las Vegas, one
of the biggest annual conventions
worldwide for the conferences,
conventions, exhibitions and events
industry.
More at www.oneworld.com

n Support the CX pedallers

The Hong Kong 24-hour Charity
Pedal Kart Grand Prix2014 willbe
held at Victoria Park on22-23
November with a number of CX
teams taking part.
The ultimate aim of this charity
event is to raise money for those
in need, with all proceeds going
to charities supported by the
Hong Kong Round Table including Feeding Hong Kong, Mothers
Choice, Crossroads and Justice
Centre Hong Kong.
This year the CX Pedal Kart
Committee aims to raise more
than HK$550,000 from individual
and corporate sponsors for
details of how you can contribute,
see the link in Zone Highlights on
the IntraCX homepage.

n RightChoice enrolment
begins
RightChoice enrolment for 2015
began for Hong Kong-based staff
on 10 November and will run until
Sunday, 30 November.
If no selection is made by the
cut-off date, staff will keep the
same benefit entitlements as
2014.
The full RightChoice plan details for 2015 can be found on the
RightChoice website on IntraCX.

Dragonair
leads the
way for CM
at HKIA
The PSS programme passed
another major milestone last
month when Alta Customer
Management (CM) was
implemented for all Dragonair
flights departing Hong Kong.
The system is now used for
some 80 KA departures from
Hong Kong every day, as well as
more than 120 flights across the
rest of the network.
Preparing for the switch was an
enormous undertaking involving
regular briefings to make sure
staff were aware of the procedural
changes, said Thomas Lam, PSS
Project Manager at Hong Kong
Airport Services (HAS).
The programme team needed
to develop and deliver bespoke
training to more than 1,200
employees.
Staff also had to complete a
string of rehearsals to familiarise
themselves with the system.
The main challenge was to
ensure that everyone completed
training within a short time and
had up-to-date knowledge, as
some procedures might have
changed after training, says
Thomas.
The careful preparation meant
that the team was fully prepared
for the few minor issues that
came up initially during a largely
smooth implementation, says Hub
Operations Manager Judy Leung.
On the first day of
implementation, there were flight
cancellations and aircraft changes
due to the bad weather in
Shanghai, but staff did not panic
they followed their training and
managed the situation perfectly,
says Thomas.
The clear briefings, guidelines
and reference guides also helped,
says Judy.
Both agreed that CM will
make work life easier for the
newer generation of frontline
colleagues.
Its much easier to use and
cuts down on check-in times,
increasing efficiency and
enhancing the overall customer
experience, says Thomas.
CM will be implemented this
month for all CX flights departing
Hong Kong.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau
est arriv CX style!
Japan the main destination as record tonnage of wine release shipped
Beaujolais Nouveau is big business
and Cathay Pacific should know,
having committed to moving close
to 2,000 tonnes of the wine this year.
Since 1985, Beaujolais has been
launched on the third Thursday
of November, as stipulated by the
Union Interprofessionelle des vins
de Beaujolais.
Traditionally the wine is shipped
overseas ahead of the launch date
to make it available at 12.01am local
time on the date of release, which
this year falls on 20 November.
While shipping the wine to some
large markets such as the USA can
be achieved using ocean transport,
the only viable way to get the wine
to Asia in the gap between production and release is via air and thats
where CX comes into the picture.
The airline has been flying Beaujolais Nouveau out of France since the
early nineties when the wine really
started to gain popularity in Asia, and
the volumes have grown steadily.
This year we expect to carry approximately 2 million kilos of the
wine, which will certainly be a record for us, says Jean-Luc Py, Cargo
Manager France.
As in previous years, the bulk of
the wine approximately 95% will
go to Japan, where the Bojo release
is always greeted with excitement.
Close to 8 million bottles are expected to be quaffed in Japan this
year.
Consumption demand has remained stable in recent years but
CX will be the biggest single carrier

ON THE MOVE: CX expects to carry approximately 2

million kilos of Beaujolais Nouveau this year. The
airline is the biggest single carrier of the wine to Asia.

to Asia as a result of our teams efforts to stay heavily engaged with

the right forwarders and our proven
track record in handling this cargo,
says General Manager Cargo Marketing & Sales Mark Sutch.
Jean-Luc and the team spend
much time ensuring this is the case
and the Beaujolais campaign starts
in earnest well before the commencement of shipping.
All Beaujolais is delivered to the
CDG warehouse from where CX organises trucking to a number of its

uplift the wine, says Jean-Luc.

Despite the weaker transatlantic
sector, this still makes commercial
sense in light of the full loads from
Paris to Hong Kong.
As CX World went to press, the
Beaujolais shipments had been
moving according to plan and the
Cargo team in Paris was looking forward to a well-earned rest after their
busiest time of the year.
So will they be celebrating with
a bottle or two of Bojo? No comment! smiles Jean-Luc.

Working in unison

TOP-LEVEL TIES: (Above) Meeting chairs and attendees;

(right) Ivan receives a souvenir from President Song.

continental freighter and passenger points including Amsterdam,

Frankfurt and Milan for uplift.
Beaujolais is heavy, dense cargo
that is well suited to the capabilities
of the 777-300ER passenger aircraft.
CX288 from Frankfurt on 3 November had a record payload of 33
tonnes of cargo, of which 22 tonnes
was Beaujolais.
In addition to our scheduled European freighters, we will have six
Boeing 747-8F freighters returning
from the United States via Paris to

The 8th CX/CA Summit was held in Shenzhen on 16

October. The meeting was co-chaired by CX Chief
Executive Ivan Chu and President of Air China Song
Zhiyong.
This was the first time both leaders attended the
summit as chiefs of their respective organisations.
During the summit, both parties reviewed the good
progress of their cooperation over the past year.
New collaborative initiatives covering a wide spectrum
of business areas were also identified with senior
management assigned as persons-in-charge.
The in-depth, top-level conversation once again
demonstrates both airlines unwavering commitment to
strengthen their long-term strategic partnership.
In closing, Ivan encouraged the two airlines to continue
to uphold their cooperative spirit, follow through with
the projects to deliver substantive benefits for both
carriers, and keep a firm eye on their vision of jointly
leading Chinas aviation industry in the future.
The next summit will be hosted by CX in October 2015
in Chengdu.

The start of a new chapter

How great design will make people love Cathay Pacific

What is a brand today?

Once upon a time, a brand was just a logo. The way
businesses expressed themselves was just to
make their logos as big and prominent as possible
putting one on as many things as they could as they
tried to attract customers.

lobby. The lighting. The tablecloth. The staff. The music

playing. These are things that help make a brand real.
To survive a fiercely competitive marketplace, a brand
has to be more than merely an image, it has to be a
complete experience.

Think about your favourite shops, services or products

today. The way it feels when you walk through the
doors. When you hold a device in your hand. Flip the
pages of your favourite magazine. The smell of a

Brands today are not static. They are not confined to

their logos. They are a fluid, flexible and living expression
of their values and proposition. A brand needs to
be lived by its staff and experienced by its customers.

Cathay Pacific is no exception. Our brand has been built

from years of delivering our signature products and
standards of service that are admired and trusted by
our passengers and peers.
Now were bringing it all together. Weve taken the
opportunity to define what we are as a complete
brand and what we can do to leave our passengers
and our staff knowing exactly what it is that makes
us Cathay Pacific.

Understanding what makes us unique

Before we considered a rebrand, we wanted insight and perspective
from the people who live and breathe the Cathay Pacific brand
our people and our passengers.
So we went right back to the beginning. Partnering with our brand
experience and design agency, Eight Partnership, we carried out
research with Cathay staff and reached out to Marco Polo Club
members. The results were both comforting and inspiring. What we
gained was an insightful understanding of both the perception of the
brand today and a vision of where we should be heading in the future.

Marco Polo Club members talked about their appreciation of our

personalised service and our warm thoughtfulness. The delivery
of a contemporary Asian experience was supported by our
recognition as an Asia-born brand that has, like the region we
call home, grown and flourished. When it came to design
and operations, both travellers and staff enjoyed simplicity.
These insights would not be complete without our enthusiasm for
the romance of travel and the pure joy of discovery that keeps both
us and our passengers so passionate about what we do.

When we went through the feedback, there were clearly elements

that resonated from our style of service and communications to
our distinctive Cathay Way.

A new design philosophy

This process of discovery revealed a unifying theme that, to us, absolutely captured
the Cathay brand, a philosophy of being Softly spoken, strongly felt. This philosophy
encapsulated that our understated approach has a positive impact on our passengers.
The challenge now presented itself: how do we integrate this philosophy into our
products and brand experiences in a way that is uniquely Cathay?
We want the Cathay Pacific brand to be a natural and uncomplicated part of our
passengers lives. To deliver on that promise, we have been working with a number
of top-tier international designers to simplify and enhance our brand experience.

The start of a new chapter

How do you refresh an icon?

Its been 20 years since the Cathay
Pacific logo was first revealed and
a lot has happened since then. Cathay
has grown to be one of the most
recognisable and trusted brands in
aviation, service and travel. Our brand
has been defined not only by our
look and feel, but by our operations
and our service: our daily fulfilling
of a promise.

We are leaders in our sector, and were

recently voted Worlds Best Airline 2014.
We always aim to be relevant to our
customers and that means evolving.
To keep fresh and dynamic, weve not
only welcomed an updated and refined
logo, but a new brand experience
process designed to positively benefit
our business, our customers and of
course our people.

The story of
our refined logo
Originally inspired by both the spirit of a flying bird
and the expressive heritage of Asian calligraphy,
it seemed fitting that the iconic brushwing of our
logo be freed from its box. Beloved for what it
represents, it was time to bring our emblem a more
contemporary feel, symbolic of a new chapter
in customer experience, design and service.
2014

Once the brushwing had been allowed to fly out

on its own it was possible to define the full shape
of the iconic brushwing with a simpler silhouette.
With this cleaner, modern look, our logo retains the
nimble and vibrant energy which characterises us.
The final result is the core symbol of what matters
to us as a brand. As Iain Richardson, Creative
Director at Eight says, Its been a process of
simplification and liberation. In addition to making
it more contemporary, the changes are consistent
with our overall approach to refining the Cathay
Pacific brand editing, simplifying and aligning
it around a well-defined design philosophy, across
all areas.
1994

The start of a new chapter

Coming soon
As we all watch this new brand experience come to life,
our Brand team will share some behind-the-scenes
stories with us from our design partners so well be able
to see how Softly spoken, strongly felt is developing
across different touch points.
Alongside our evolved brand look and feel we have
been updating our website with refreshed designs
released this month. Digital agency DigitasLBi has
supported us in creating a website that works on
the principle of a one-stop shop concept where
passengers can also book hotels, packages and more.
It will be rolled out in stages over the coming year.

Creating new spaces

Weve created some new crew briefing areas at Cathay City which will be enjoyed
by a number of staff. Well gradually be refurbishing airport lounges that represent
our new design philosophy, worldwide. To redesign our lounges, London-based
interior design agency Studioilse were chosen for their comfortable and natural
design style. Their work transforms spaces into accessible, comfortable and
welcoming environments. The first opening of the new lounge refurbishments will
be Tokyos Haneda Airport in December, with The Pier in Hong Kong also scheduled
for refurbishment in 2015 - so keep an eye out for updates in the New Year.

What you can do

People make an airline. The pride our staff
have in their roles has inspired us to create
a brand and working environment that
is both comfortable and stimulating. As
we move forward rolling out our brand
guidelines we will need everyones help
to ensure they are adhered to.
We encourage all staff to take part in this
transformation and to be curious and
inquisitive about the new design philosophy
as it is put into practice.

10

Handling just
got easier!
New web-based data logging system
gives Customer Relations a boost

WAY FORWARD: The new Customer Feedback and Compensation System will improve productivity.

The Customer Relations Department celebrated the launch of its new IT system, the
Customer Feedback and Compensation System, on 15 October.
The new system is a cloud-based solution
based on technology from Salesforce.com,
and will be used by the Customer Relations
teams in Hong Kong and the Mumbai Service
Centre, as well as outport customer relations
representatives worldwide.
The Customer Feedback and Compensation system is designed as a one-stop platform replacing two legacy systems, Kana and
CRMS, says David Ryan, Head of Customer
Relations. It is a lot more stable than those
systems and will help boost our productivity.
The new web-based interface and pre-filled
templates make it much easier to log cases.
Related documents, from compensation
policies to each countrys complaint handling
regulations, are stored in the system for easy
reference.
Better yet is the systems compatibility with
mobile devices.
The platforms discussion thread function,

Chatter, is another helpful feature.

By giving all colleagues easy access to discussion threads, everyone can be updated
with the latest handling information and can
share questions and best practices.
This allows our staff to keep track of the
details and progress of cases with ease, while
expiry alerts are set as a reminder of each
cases deadline, says David.
The system can also generate customisable
statistical reports.
At the same time as the system was
launched, online feedback forms were
lauched in an additional five languages
Thai, Italian, Dutch, German and French.
This will enable customers in those regions
to pass feedback to use in their local languages and will help facilitate better case handling
in those regions.
With the new platform in place, we are now
working to automate manual processes like
issuing vouchers to customers, David says.
Were also looking at extending system
functionality to other teams, such as Baggage
Services.

Obituary Captain Paul Horsting

Friends and former colleagues
were saddened to receive news
of the passing of Captain Paul
Horsting on 17 October.
Capt Horstings career at
Cathay Pacific spanned 26
years. In addition to being an
accomplished aviator he spent
some 12 years in the role of
Manager International Operations,
traversing the world and working
with the International Affairs team
to gain approvals for a number of pioneering
routes for the airline.
Among his major achievements was
helping to open up a new route through

North Korea to South Korea at a

time when the countries were still
technically at war.
Capt Horsting also became
synonymous with helping to
develop the North Pole route from
North America to Asia.
A crowning moment of his
career was being commander on
the famous Polar One flight the
first non-stop flight from New York
to Hong Kong, which was also the
first flight to arrive at the new Hong Kong
International Airport on 6 July 1998.
Capt Horsting retired from the airline in
2001.

11

Time to say
goodbye

NEWS FOCUS

China team
gets busy on
social media
PAKISTAN
USA

Another 747 farewell

Having said goodbye to CXs last 747 long-haul passenger flight

at the end of August, SFO Engineering Manager Jim Aspros and
his team bade farewell to another Jumbo.
The SFO ENG team has been handling technical support for
Air New Zealand since 2004 and provided maintenance for the
final months of NZs 747 operation, which were exclusively on
the Auckland to San Francisco route.
The final NZ B744 flight, NZ7, departed from San Francisco on
11 September, operated by ZK-NBV, and Jim and his team were
on hand to dispatch the aircraft, receiving a nice comment in the
Captains final log entry.
NZ MOC Engineer, MOC and Outstations, Wenjie He added
his own note of gratitude. Thanks for the great efforts over
the years to provide engineering supports to this beast in SFO,
Wenjie wrote in an email.

THAILAND

It is an exciting time for the China Sales & Marketing

team, which has just launched two major projects on
social media platforms Taobao and WeChat to take its
online presence to a whole new level.
Taobao is one of the worlds 10-most-visited websites,
and Tmall is a business-to-consumer (B2C) spinoff run by
Alibaba for businesses. The CX Group is first non-Chinese
airline group to open its Tmall store, cathaypacific.tmall.
com, as a direct sales channel.
On 28 October, the day CX announced the launch of
its own Tmall store, Taobao also announced a new brand
identity for its travel arm called!, meaning Go!
CX also became the first international airline to
participate in the Double 11 shopping festival on 11
November on Taobao, which generated a transaction
volume of CNY35 billion last year.
From network connectivity to products, CX is
committed to upgrading our offerings in all areas. This
also applies to our web and mobility services, says
General Manager China Paul Loo.
At the moment, the CX Tmall page only offers six
Chinese cities as destinations, including Beijing, Shanghai,
Hangzhou, Nanking, Xiamen and Chengdu.
But there are plans to introduce more cities and offers
on the site as the platforms technical capability improves,
says Manager Marketing & Sales China Kinto Chan.
The initial response from customers has been very
positive, says Kinto. We have been enjoying very healthy
traffic flow on the site and of course the volume of sales at
this initial stage has been encouraging as well.
The CX Group also launched its official WeChat account
at around the same time.
WeChat is the most popular social media application
in China with more than 49% of social sharing done on
the platform. Therefore it is very important for the CX
Group to have a presence to showcase our brand to the
wider Chinese public, says Kinto.
The team was taken aback by the public response in
the course of a few days, more than 2,200 fans subscribed
to the official channel.
There is a read-and-share
campaign on our WeChat
channel, so add us and share with
your friends. Around the end of
November, when we have more
fans, well launch a fun game on
the platform so please do add us
as a WeChat favourite, he says.
Our thanks to Sales &
Distribution,
Digital
Retail,
Access CXs Tmall
Marketing, GGT and RMO for
store
making these projects possible.

It was an evening of very mixed

emotions when the Karachi team
gathered on 5 September.
The occasion was certainly a sad one
to say goodbye to the teams who
worked loyally to run Cathay Pacifics
operation in Pakistan for the past 14
years.
But it was also a happy event as staff
from the Airport and Cargo teams, and
CXs GSA in Pakistan, gathered for a
barbeque hosted by Country Manager
Pakistan Feroze Jamall.
Everyone enjoyed an evening of
good company, delicious food, music,
dancing and a lot of fun.
The day had come where we had to
say goodbye and wish our colleagues
good health and success in their future
endeavours, says Feroze.

Celebrating 100,000 Asia

Miles members
The Thailand team has demonstrated a great can-do spirit
recruiting new Asia Miles members, doubling membership in
the space of a year to hit the 100,000 milestone recently.
Leslie Lu, Country Manager Thailand (far right) expressed his
gratitude to the team.
Their determination, commitment and teamwork in driving
this initiative have been truly inspiring, driving even greater
customer loyalty towards CX and making the Worlds Best
Airline their preferred carrier. Lets keep up the great work!
Separately, Leslie gathered with staff from across different

12

departmentsin
Bangkok to
celebrate CXs
68 anniversary
as well as
the recent
achievement of
being named Worlds Best Airline by Skytrax.
The celebrations included a Buddhist ceremony in the
morning and a birthday cake-cutting at the Town Office.

PORT PEOPLE

A special treat for kids

The team in Kuala Lumpur organised its latest

CSR activity in October, hosting around 30
underprivileged kids from the House of Joy
organisation to visit the inflight catering facility
and take a tour of the airport.
The kids got the chance to bake their own
cookies at the airline catering test kitchen and
later enjoyed an inflight meal.
The day ended with them seeing takeoffs and
landings at KLIA, and the kids wrote their feelings
down on Post-it Notes and presented them to CX
as a souvenir of a memorable day.
Also last month, the KUL team organised its Top
Agents Appreciation Dinner to thank key travel
agency and trade partners (pictured left).
A total of 28 travel agencies were feted at
the dinner, with the team presenting them with
certificates and awards

MALAYSIA

FOOD FOCUS:
Outside work,
Shrey Nayars
big passion in
life is cooking.

Great day out at Narita

JAPAN

For four years in a row the Japan team has organised an

exclusive field visit to Narita airport as part of its ongoing
CSR efforts.
This years beneficiaries were 20 elementary school
children aged eight to 10 from the Tohoku region, which
was affected by the great East Japan earthquake three years
ago the second time the Japan team has showed support
to people who are still recovering from that tragic event.
The children took part in a two-day programme that saw
them travel by train to Narita for orientation activities and a
dinner organised by CX Japan staff volunteers.
The next day, children enjoyed a tour of NRT that
included a special cockpit experience in a CX aircraft, trying
on CX uniforms and interacting with the operating crew of
CX501 on 6 August.

Doha Marketing Executive Shrey Nayar has been given the

chance to pursue his dream career since the port came
online this spring.
The Mumbai native joined the CX family as a flight
attendant two years ago but admits he has always aspired
to a career in marketing.
Im drawn to the creative and dynamic nature of the
job, says Shrey, who has just completed a two-year MBA
course in the discipline.
Outside work, Shrey has a built a reputation as an avid
cook amongst friends.
Im delighted to prepare foods for my friends when we
get together, Shrey says. Ill always try to add a new twist
or alternative ingredients to give a nice surprise.
His favourite dishes include Indian-style butter chicken
with naan, chicken in white wine and garlic, and hot
chocolate souffl.
Shrey has a solid culinary background he graduated in
hotel management with majors in cooking and bartending
but says he enjoys the freedom of improvising recipes.
There is no absolute rule for producing tasty food you
can choose your own ingredients and style, he says. In a
way this has inspired me to be more creative outside the
kitchen, too.
n

Running for a cause

The Johannesburg team has been busy with

a number of CSR activities in recent months,
including taking part for the third year in Arbor
Month activities.
This involves the planting of bamboo trees
in communities to help preserve the natural
environment, celebrated in September which is
the first month of spring in South Africa.
The team partnered with Food and Trees
for Africa as a part of their Trees for All
Programme, donating and planting 118
bamboo trees at Kwanele Primary School
(Gauteng Province) in Katlehong and 56
bamboo trees at Ntabeni Secondary School
in Matatiele (Kwa Zulu Natal Province).

SOUTH AFRICA

Trees for all

INDONESIA

Travel Fairs in Indonesia

The first-ever Cathay Pacific Travel Fair was staged in

Surabayas Supermal from 23 to 26 October.
A separate travel fair was staged in Kota Kasablanka in
Jakarta in the same period.
Themed around CXs Worlds
Best Airline Skytrax win, the
travel fairs in Indonesia aimed
to promote brand awareness,
sell air tickets and tour
packages, and recruit Asia
Miles members. Everything
was done at no cost to CX as
participating agents paid to
join.
JKT

Recipe for success

SUB

Every year, hundreds of thousands of athletes take on the

challenge of the New York Triathlon one of the most
popular sporting events in the city.
Among those who participated this year was New Yorkbased Customer Services Supervisor Isaac Barreiros, who
joined CX earlier this year but has worked in the aviation
industry for more than a decade.
Although passionate about a number of sports, Isaac
says the triathlon is where his strength lies.
Before the New York Triathlon he participated in the
New York Five Boro bike tour where he raised more than
US$4,000 for The Livestrong Foundation, a charity that
provides cancer patients with support.
He also participated in the 2013 Staten Island Triathlon
and just completed the same event this year just a week
after the New York Triathlon.
I want to thank my wonderful wife, Cindy, who has
supported me from the beginning to the finishing line in
every event Ive competed in, says Isaac.
The athlete is also a father who cares
about others children as much as he does
his own two kids.
I want to be more than a father
and athlete, so Ive raised funds for
the St Jude Childrens Research
Hospital, one of the best
paediatric hospitals in the US
that promotes a better way
to treat childhood cancer
and other deadly diseases,
says Isaac.
The fundraising programme
aims to ensure that patients families
dont need to settle bills for medical
treatment, travel, housing or food,
enabling them to focus on raising
their kids healthily.
13

Letters to the Editor

Star Letter prize

More flexibility for ID tickets

Investing
Sustainably
Sustainable investment is a fast-growing
trend as investors increasingly use
corporate sustainability reporting to
inform their investment strategies.
By analysing corporate sustainability
performance, investors can gain a better
understanding of a companys quality of
management and future performance
potential.
A companys ESG (environmental,
social and governance) performance
can be examined through specific issues
such as corporate governance, risk
management, climate change mitigation
and adaptation, supply chain standards,
branding, and labour practices.
Institutional investors, asset managers
and financial service providers are
looking for companies that integrate
sustainable business practices actively
and effectively.
This interest is sparked in part
by expected heavy pressure put
on resources such as water, food,
and energy, which would drive up
commodity prices.
Investors already make reference to
quantitative and qualitative information
on a companys environmental risks
and liabilities through a number of
information banks.
For example, in 2014, 767 financial
institutions with assets of US$92 trillion
signed on to receive climate change
related information via the Carbon
Disclosure Project (CDP).
Over 50% of the worlds biggest
companies by value now provide their
climate change information through
CDP. Cathay Pacific was on CDPs Climate
Disclosure Leadership Index in 2012 and
2013.
The Dow Jones Sustainability
Index (DJSI) evaluates the corporate
sustainability performance of the largest
2,500 companies listed on the global
stock market, and is the longest-running
sustainability benchmark worldwide.
Together with the FTSE4Good Index
and, locally, the Hang Seng Corporate
Sustainability Index, these are the
leading benchmarks for corporate
sustainability.
Cathay Pacific is one of few blue chip
companies in Hong Kong currently listed
in all three of these indices.
By being open and transparent on
the sustainability issues that impact our
business and our stakeholders, and our
approach in managing them, we help
investors identify opportunities that
generate long-term value and make
better-informed investment decisions.
To facilitate access to this information,
an Investors Relations section has
been included in the CX Sustainable
Development Report since 2012.

Under the current staff travel policy, companions

and parents are entitled to 12 and 48 sectors (24
each for mum and dad) respectively on CX/KA
per annum. I understand the company might
want to give more benefits to parents due to the
relationship level. However, I believe I am not
the only staff to find that our companions tend
to use up all their 12 sectors (six round-trips)
while parents fly around three to four roundtrips only as, due to age or personal preference,
they dont travel that often. This leads to the
wastage of staff benefits and misallocation of
resources. In addition, as a staff, we are entitled
to unlimited travel. If the purpose of having a
companion is for them to travel with us, we are
basically limited to travel with our companions
a maximum of six times a year on ID tickets.
In view of this, is it possible that the company
can allow staff to allocate the number of sectors
among their companions and parents at the
time of nomination? For example, I can allocate
24 sectors to my travel companion and change

my parents quota to 36 (18 each for mum and

dad). Such a system would give staff greater
flexibility to enjoy their benefits with the overall company contribution remaining the same. It
will potentially generate more revenue too due
to more travel by the companions.
CPL staff
Jessica Chan, Manager People Services,
replies: Thank you for your suggestion. When
we introduced companion travel it was to
recognise unmarried staff who wanted to travel
with a friend in the same way that a married staff
was able to travel with their spouse.
After introducing companion travel, there
were unfortunately numerous reports of abuse,
hence the number of sectors offered was not
changed and remained at 12 per annum. If
we were to increase the number of sectors for
companions, we may require the companion to
be accompanied by the staff. In any case, any
change to the policy will require further study.

Livery query

Is there a plan in the near future to

change to the livery of the Boeing
777 aircraft in our fleet?
Our name is written too small
and is not clearly recognisable
from a distance.
I think we have to consider the
high value of immediate brand
recognition, especially outside of
Hong Kong.
Frankfurt staff
Dennis Owen, Manger Brand,
replies: We have no current plans
to change the livery of our aircraft.
However, it may be an option in
the future and we thank you for
your comments.

Upgrade
blues
So many flights these days are
oversold in Economy. Why is it
CX policy to upgrade full-fare
passengers and not staff, like
all other airlines? Where is the
incentive to buy J class if frequent

The winner of the CX World

Star Letter scores a bottle of
Murray Street White Label
Barossa Shiraz 2008.
This Barossa Shiraz won
the Gold Medal for Best
Business Class Red Wine at
the 2013 Cellar in the Sky
Awards.
The fruits of this wine
are sourced from nine
differently managed blocks
from a variety of fantastic
vineyards, giving the wine
great complexity.
On the palate, cherries
and plums tantalise,
supported by chocolate
and coffee nuances. This is
an elegantly structured wine with
generous weight and length.
ISD will be offering a bottle of wine
from CXs Business Class selection every
month for the Star Letter winner, so
watch this space!

I can assure you that our elite

Marco Polo members are not upgraded on a seat-available basis
but are considered in the event
that there is an overbooking and
we need to clear oversales. This is
a commercial arrangement which
we have adopted for many years
which does not change or impact
on staff travel because staff travellers will always be accepted after
all revenue passengers have been
accommodated.
Furthermore, it is very difficult for frequent flyers to predict
which flights are overbooked and
few would book Economy Class
on the assumption that their tier
status would get them an upgrade Im sure that if they did,
theyd be disappointed!

flyers know they can simply buy

EY and get upgraded because
they are a frequent flyer? Its a nocost item and encourages staff
goodwill to upgrade them and
perhaps would increase revenue
by having passengers pay for J
class thereby forcing staff into
EY where apparently they belong!
FOP staff

Take-home
sauces

Jessica Chan, Manager People

Services, replies: Thank you for
your letter.

Some of the lunch boxes produced

by CPCS and sold at the Deli
Delight counter at CX City have
delicious sauces that Id love to be

able to buy as pre-packaged, reheatable packs for home cooking.

Does Deli Delight have any plans
to introduce take-home pasta and
curry sauces to their e-Shop in the
near future?
Hungry staff
Andy Wong, General Manager,
CPCS replies: CPCS is committed
to providing delicious meals and
food products so it is our pleasure
to receive your compliments. With
regards to takeaway items, we
need to consider food freshness,
hygiene, packaging and labelling
issues.
To further enhance our
product ranges and offer our
best products through Deli
Delight, we formed a Research &
Development Team in 2012. They
are continuously looking at new
product developments, such as
the hotdogs we introduced in
September this year.
Pasta and sauces are definitely
being considered and we will
explore the best takeaway option
for customers while ensuring
freshness. Once again, thank you
for shopping at Deli Delight.

The wine scientist

Wine expert and student judges a major wine competition

The results of Simons dissertation will be

featured in a coming edition of Discovery
magazine for customers to enjoy. Stay tuned!

One of the judges for this years Cathay Pacific International Wine &
Spirits Competition was none other than Manager Global Contact
Centres Simon Kriss (left).
The self-professed wine nerd is now completing his dissertation to
receive a Masters of Viticulture and Oenology through the University
of Melbourne.
The Australian natives love affair with wine started some 20 years
ago when he started drinking older red wines instead of simple
whites.
The wine that first got me started was a 1990 Penfolds Grange.
I had a 1992 Hill of Grace not long after. Both Australian, and both
stunning examples of a great wine, says Simon.
It was a big turning point for me. From then on I wanted to know
how wine works and that led to a journey of exploration.
Simon is interested in the science of wine, as well as the
story behind each bottle.
If you like a wine, you like the 100-plus decisions
the winemaker makes. Thats what intrigues me, he
says. Half of the wine is about story-telling, and I
love seeing the passion in the people that make it.
Simon is currently working on his dissertation,
which scientifically explores the ways in which the
characteristics of wine change inflight.
He and a group of testers will first taste Cathay Pacifics First and Business Class wines on the ground, then
in the air and back on the ground again immediately
after flight. Hell then triangulate the data to start to
determine the impact of flight on wine.
As for judging the Hong Kong wine competition, Simon says the challenge lay in critiquing a
wine-makers hard work.
While it was a lot of fun, and an honour to sample
the best a winemaker has to offer, judging someones
labours can be like telling an artist you dont like his painting! he says.
That said, it was a memorable experience for Simon: The
morning was spent on wine pairing, so I tried 16 wines with Kung
Pao chicken, then 14 wines with chicken tikka, then 14 wines with
pad thai. After lunch I had to judge 105 wines to determine gold medals and trophy winners. I had to wash down all of this with a cleansing
beer on my way back home!

WARR descends on Dublin

Twenty-four CX runners journeyed to Ireland last month to take part in the
annual World Airline Road Race (WARR).
This 33rd edition of WARR was held in Dublin from 1-5 October with more
than 900 runners from various airlines competing over 5km and 10km.
The CX contingent was well prepared, having taken in part in weekly
training sessions prior to the event.
They also ran a T-shirt design competition for the events legendary TShirt Swap Party, with ISDs Jacky Yuen producing the winning design.
It wasnt all about running. The CX squad took off for sightseeing trips
and enjoyed a Carb-Loading dinner to build the team spirit before the
race day.
The team performed well with nine runners - Jacky Yuen (ISD), Kia Yin

(LON), Sophy Tong (ISD), Ryan Li (IMT), Kelvin Lo (PNL), James Ginns (EXO),
Bowie Lo (ISD), Bibianna Yu (ISD) and Sophy Tong (ISD) getting top five
places in their respective age groups.
In the group category, CX took first place in the 10K Womens Open, third
place in the 5K Womens Open, second place in the Participation Awards
and first place in the Travel Awards.
This is my first WARR since joining CX and it was amazing, says Eva Ng
(PVO). It gave us the opportunity to meet new friends in the industry and
also allowed us to bond with colleagues from different departments.
Vanessa Ho (CPL) says the CX team showed great spirit. Actually we
were more like a big family we cared, supported and cheered for each
other not only at the race but during the entire stay there!

A ROLE MODEL
AT HKIA
HKIA Manager on
Duty Jackie Man
is the star of a
video series produced by Airport
Authority Hong Kong to promote
the dynamic jobs at Hong Kong
International Airport.
Jackie, who has been with
CX for 17 years, was invited to
represent the airline ground
service workforce.
In the one-minute video, Jackie
talks about how the dynamic
nature of her job keeps her going.
I never feel bored at work
because dealing with every
passenger is a new experience.
We also need to be flexible and
improvise according to different
situations, she says in the video.
Jackie tells CX World that
filming was an unforgettable
experience for her. I was
definitely honoured and
delighted to share my thoughts
on my career, which Im
passionate about, she adds.
Jackie may be a novice in front
of the camera, but she knows the
importance of expressing herself
well after years of experience on
the frontline.
Thanks to years of interacting
with customers, I realise that
subtle differences in facial
expressions can cause very
different perceptions! she grins.
The actual shooting took two
days to complete. On the second
day, the production moved to an
equestrian school in Shek Kong
where Jackie demonstrated her
jockeying skills.
I watched some of the
equestrian events held in Hong
Kong during the 2008 Beijing
Olympics and fell in love with the
sport, Jackie says.
The basic walk, trot, canter
routine may look simple but it
depends heavily on the mutual
trust and cooperation of the rider
and the horse. The same principle
also applies to management,
Jackie says.

Scan for Jackies video, which

debuted at the Airport Job
Expo 2014 in August

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