FedEx Express plans to temporarily relocate Hong Kong-based pilots and their families to San Francisco over plans being drawn up by the Chinese territory to force aircrew into mandatory hotel quarantine whenever they return from abroad.
Rumours of the proposed 14-day quarantine rule first surfaced last week and although the Hong Kong government is yet to release any concrete details about the plan, the territory’s health minister has confirmed that officials believe they have no choice but to introduce aircrew quarantine.
The 14-day quarantine rule would apply to all aircrew who arrive in Hong Kong from a foreign country and stay for any longer than two hours. The only exemption would be for arrivals from mainland China. Local pilots and cabin crew currently only have to isolate in a hotel room for 24-hours while they wait for the results of a test taken on arrival.
Local carrier Cathay Pacific has already warned that even stricter quarantine measures could have a devastating effect on its business. “The new measure will have a significant impact on our ability to service our passenger and cargo markets,” Cathay Pacific’s chief operating officer, Ronald Lam commented on Monday.
Cathay Pacific said it would likely reduce its already decimated passenger schedule by a further 60 per cent if the measures are implemented. Cargo capacity would be cut by around a quarter.
“While we don’t know what the rule will state, when it will precisely take effect, or how long it will last, we do not want unknowns to prevent us from taking action on what we understand may likely occur,” FedEx System Chief Pilot Robin Sebasco explained in an internal memo that was reported by SCMP.
FedEx plans to cover the cost of temporary hotel accommodation, while still covering rent payments in Hong Kong. The logistics company did not say how long it plans to have the measures in place.
Cathay Pacific is hoping to get around the measures by deploying pilots and cabin crew on month-long duty periods where they would stay in hotels overseas between flights to Hong Kong. They would then quarantine for 14-days on their final return flight and have a further 14-days free of duty.
Some international airlines which are continuing to operate flights to Hong Kong have added stopovers in a third country for a crew changeover, while others are operating with two sets of crew to circumvent the rules.
Last July, the union that represents FedEx’s U.S.-based pilots demanded the company suspend flights to Hong Kong over quarantine requirements for pilots who either tested positive for COVID-19 or were identified as a close contact of a Coronavirus positive patient.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) said pilots were enduring “extremely difficult conditions” in government-run COVID camps and isolation wards in hospitals.
