Cathy to Eliminate 600 Positions

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Asia’s biggest international airline, will eliminate 600 jobs as part of the biggest revamp in two decades following its first loss in eight years, Bloomberg reported. The majority of affected employees will be informed Monday and over the next month, with most of the restructuring completed by the end of 2017, Cathay said in a statement Monday. No frontline employees, pilots or cabin crew will be affected, it said. Cathay and its affiliated airlines and other businesses employed about 33,000 people as of June 2016. Despite booming demand for air travel in Asia, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines Ltd. are among premium carriers in the region reeling under intense competition from low-cost carriers, Chinese mainland rivals and Middle-Eastern operators such as Emirates. Singapore Air last week reported a surprise loss and announced a “wide-ranging review” of its business as well. “Everyone is becoming more and more cost conscious,” said Andrew Lee, an analyst at Jefferies in Hong Kong. “To be able to survive, they need to control costs. I think it is a start,” he said, referring to Cathay.