Don't Take the Peanuts

Cathay Pacific has found cabin crew have pilfered a lot of stuff over the years

Cathay Pacific is trying to continue to slash costs to save HK$4 billion (despite posting a HK$2.3 billion profit in 2018), but it looks like it may have found a reason why it's spending a lot of money too.

There seems to be a lot of pilfering going on, with flight attendants freely taking items on the plane, from cutlery and wine glasses, and even bread.

One of the more popular items are Haagen-Dazs ice creams

Apparently the theft of the items amount to "untold hundreds of millions" over the years, according to sources.

One of the more popular items is the pot of Haagen-Dazs ice cream served on flights. Some cabin crew are known to have freezers stocked with these ice creams.

"In view of an increasing number of reported losses of company property, we have informed our cabin crew that random inspections will be carried out," a company spokeswoman said.

Cathay had already warned staff in January in a memo about the "unfortunately increasing trend of company property discrepancies". Does everyone know what "company property discrepancies" mean?

Bottles of unopened wine and caviar have been taken too

The cabin crew will be inspected upon disembarking the plane, and they may only take with them cabin crew-designated meals, as well as fruit, water, and plastic-wrapped sandwiches.

That means they aren't even allowed to take the wet wipes or even peanuts.

"Zero tolerance means you are not permitted to take off the aircraft any item other than what the company has authorized as per the policy," said Ed Higgs, general manager of in-flight services.

"If anyone removes company property, irrespective of the value or if you believe it will be thrown away, you will be subject to discipline which may include termination."

Don't say you haven't been warned.

But what is wrong with taking leftover food that will be binned or opened bottles of wine? Or do they donate the uneaten food to a charity, and have proper ways to re-cork the wine for later use? 

Staff shouldn't even think about taking peanuts or wet wipes

It has taken this long for Cathay to realize some cabin crew are pilfering items? There is some mismanagement here.

And what about the airline's huge mistake in 2016 when it lost a whopping HK$8.46 billion on bad fuel hedging bets? Heads rolled, but taking pots of Haagen-Dazs hardly compares to losing billions of dollars.

Nevertheless, this is the new reality for Cathay Pacific flight crew. So put down those company-branded pens, peanuts and ice cream. It's just not worth it.