Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Rupert Hogg resigns amid mounting Chinese scrutiny

Cathay Pacific announced the shock resignation on August 16, 2019 of its CEO Rupert Hogg after the Hong Kong carrier was castigated by Beijing because some of its staff had supported or joined recent protests in the city.

Cathay Pacific announced the shock resignation on August 16, 2019 of its CEO Rupert Hogg after the Hong Kong carrier was castigated by Beijing because some of its staff had supported or joined recent protests in the city.

Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Rupert Hogg resigned in a shock move on Friday, amid mounting Chinese regulatory scrutiny of the Hong Kong carrier over the involvement of its employees in the city’s anti-government protests.

The sudden departure signals growing pressure on the corporate sector in the Chinese-controlled former British colony, home to multinationals such as HSBC Holdings and Jardine Matheson Holdings, to support Beijing.

Cathay Pacific, which has already terminated two pilots for engaging in illegal protests at the behest of the Chinese aviation regulator, named Augustus Tang as its new CEO.

Tang is the head of Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company – which like Cathay is managed by Swire Pacific Ltd.

The airline also said Paul Loo had resigned as chief customer and commercial officer, to be replaced by the head of its low-cost arm Hong Kong Express, Ronald Lam.