A Cathay Pacific Airways plane. File photo: IC

Cathay Pacific, an airlines based in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), has launched its first-ever recruitment drive in the Chinese mainland, months after it was hit by a strong backlash on social media over discrimination accusations against Chinese mainland passengers. 

This first Cathay Pacific job fair on the mainland took place in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province from Friday to Wednesday, with 200 to 300 people expected to be recruited, People's Daily reported Wednesday.

According to Cathay Pacific CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por, by 2025, the airlines plans to expand the total number of mainland flight attendants to 1,000 to 2,000. More than that, in addition to flight attendants, the company is also recruiting trainee pilots, information technology staff, customer service staff and logistics staff for the mainland in the future, bringing the total number of recruits to about 4,000 by 2025.

"The reason we have decided to recruit cabin crew from the mainland is because increasingly we have more and more flights between Hong Kong and the mainland, and more customers from the mainland," he said.

The recruitment exercise for mainland candidates comes several months after Cathay Pacific allegedly discriminated against mainland passengers. The incident had triggered widespread and intense criticism.

Three flight attendants were dismissed following four apology statements released by Cathay Pacific in May, after a passenger complained that cabin crew kept using discriminatory words against non-English-speaking passengers during a flight in May. It was also not the first time Cathay Pacific has been accused of discriminating passengers.

HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that relevant flight attendants' words and deeds had hurt the feelings of the people in both the HKSAR and the mainland, undermining Hong Kong's cherished values of respect and courtesy.

After the incident, Cathay Pacific announced its plan to start the recruitment process of cabin crew in the Chinese mainland, in a move aimed at further increasing Putonghua language coverage.

In July, Cathay Pacific announced on its official website its talent recruitment plan for flight attendants targeting at Chinese mainland candidates. The candidates are required to be fluent in speaking and reading English and Putonghua and have good communication skills.  

The airline reportedly attracted more than 2,000 applicants in the Chinese mainland and has since shortlisted 600 candidates, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. New recruits can start on monthly salaries of up to HK$20,000 ($2,550) after the airline bumped up its pay grades as part of efforts to retain employees. Staff can also choose to live in Hong Kong or neighboring mainland cities, according to SCMP.

Global Times