Cathay Pacific to Replace Chief Executive as Losses Mount -<br />By NEIL GOUGHAPRIL 12, 2017<br />Battered by financial losses and rising competition from low-cost airlines, Cathay Pacific, one of Asia’s<br />biggest full-service carriers, said on Wednesday that it would replace its chief executive officer.<br />Cathay, the Hong Kong-based carrier controlled by the Swire conglomerate, said in a stock exchange filing<br />that Ivan Chu, a three-decade veteran of Swire, would step aside as chief executive but would retain a seat on the board.<br />“The key challenges faced by Cathay Pacific are stiff competition from well-funded, state-owned Chinese carriers, as well as Hong Kong Airlines<br />and HK Express, which have aggressive fleet-expansion plans in the next two years,” said Corrine Png, the founder of Crucial Perspective, an Asian aviation industry consultant.<br />While the state-backed carrier Air China is Cathay’s second-biggest shareholder, after Swire,<br />other airlines from mainland China are signing agreements with foreign carriers.
