Cathay Pacific Pilots Accused Of Taxiing Too Slowly

Anecdotal, perhaps, but I can attest about SWA pilots and their taxiing habits. It's especially noticeable at a relatively compact airport like Midway. On a recent flight from PHL, we landed a little long, hit the brakes hard, and then headed over to the gate at break-neck speed. Not that I minded, it got me off the plane sooner, but I certainly noticed it.

This is exactly why pilots weren't paid for the time on the ground to begin with. Pay was to be given for time in the air and flight time has a high pay per hour for this reason. Paying pilots to for time in the aircraft only allows them to muck around for more money. This can also lead to reliability issues, if pilots are being paid to sit on the ground they could purposely call equipment issues so they get paid while passengers wait for nothing.

Is it just me, or do Turkish Airlines pilots taxi very slowly at Istanbul airport? It always feels like taxiing to the terminal takes forever, and it's not just that the airport is huge, also the speeds feel really low.

If Cathay pilots are severely underpaid, why not hop to other airlines that pays better? Last I read is that pilot shortage is a thing (or maybe in SE Asia it is not a thing?). Certainly there are more than couple airlines base in cities a stone throw from hk.

When will managers ever learn that pay cuts result in low morale and an unhappy workforce that does not feel “valued” will unwittingly produce less?

As a pax who is paying 2X pre-pandemic prices, I would far prefer the Pilot of my aircraft has a positive attitude and enthusiasm & diligence for their assigned tasks.

It could be that the arrival runways are, what seems like, 25nm from the terminal.

Well, If i was going Long Haul, I find taxing longer one of the more enjoyable parts. Please don't rush CX pilots, On any of their International flights, please.

Because of seniority.

You obviously don't know how airline seniority works. You can't break it. In a nutshell, he/she with the most time on board, and in the right equipment, gets paid the most. A senior captain can't just "hop" from one airline to another without losing three-quarters to seven-eighths of one's pay rate! This will be the case UNLESS one gets in on the ground floor with a new start-up where the jobless captain might only lose half to two-thirds of their pay rate. Not an easy deal to swallow.

Check out CX716 depart SG T4 on 13May.
Taxi time was 38mins!!
Is that acceptable and professional?

I think they want planes to taxi more quickly because they want people to escape the CCP as soon as possible.

It's coordinated. Friend is a CX 777 pilot, said everyone is doing it to get back at management.

In solidarity with Cathay pilots and cabin crew I will never fly with Cathay again! I have talked all of my family and my wifes family out of flying with Cathay again. This alone has resulted in multiple bookings per year Cathay misses out on.
It was my dream to work as a pilot for Cathay but now I talk fellow pilots out or ever going to work there. They are officially the most dispicable sycophatic disgraceful airline management in the world! Cathays entire management should be removed immediately. Hell I think most would rather Alan Joyce... now that is saying someyhing

Sample size one but taxiing out of SIN the other week on CX took about 30 minutes, I was wondering what the issue was...

Yep, I experienced this as a passenger out of SIN on April 23rd

Hi,
CX usually departs off the new runway the old middle Rwy is shut atm they are building another new Rwy and terminal this means this is currently one of the longest taxis distances wise in the world.
Fyi

CX have a “ cost “and environmental saving initiative of when ever possible Reduced Engine taxi In. Means after landing shut one engine down and taxi in on one engine to save costs. Most if any other airlines do this. And not surprisingly if taxing on one engine vs two the speed is slower. Is this a good or bad thing ??
It does take more skill from the pilots and creates more work for them but if do properly it is safe.
So CX pilots are going the next level for the environment. Who knew. Shame there not paid for it.
Name another major airline doing RETI ?

Well, as the flight arrived on stand at HKG only 1 minute behind schedule, and without categorically knowing why the taxi time at SIN was so long, I would personally say it's neither unacceptable nor unprofessional.

Yes, Southwest is the only airline that computes V-speeds for taxiing.

You have a problem. Get some help

Imagine an office worker getting paid mon-fri and on Thursday night their boss says……well done, you’ve finished this weeks work, go home, you’re not being paid for tomorrow. You can bet the office workers would slow down their work to fill Friday and get paid for 5 days. What’s the difference?

Departure taxi times at SIN will be long when Rwy 02R is used between mid-November and mid-May when prevailing winds are from the north. Add to the fact that CX departs from T4 and you have the worst taxi times of all at 30 minutes or longer; those from T1/T2/T3 are clocking 20 to 25 minutes or so as well.

However, mid-May has passed and the prevailing winds are now coming from the south, so take-offs are in the other direction (Rwy 20L) which has cut the taxi time by 10 minutes.

There is minimal effect on landings, due to the proximity of Rwy 02L/20R to the 4 terminals.

However, I do believe there is some truth to the CX-specific slow-downs, either as a work-to-rule measure, low morale or trying to clock overtime for more pay.

Well if you’re going to penalise workers who try to maximise efficiency and arrive earlier than the scheduled in-block time by cutting their pay, why wouldn’t you expect them to slow down and arrive just on time as planned? You created this mess Cathay. What a toxic company now- and no, I don’t work for them.