Better Than First Class

An Interview with Tony Tyler, Chief Executive, Cathay Pacifi c Airways Limited

EDITORS’ NOTE Tony Tyler joined don’t put them in the Swire group in 1977 and has a box; don’t close worked with the group in them off, because Kong, Australia, the Philippines, then you can’t see Canada, Japan, Italy, and the what they need and United Kingdom. He has been a can’t communicate Director of the company since easily with them. So 1996 and was appointed Director we worked with de- Corporate Development in 1996 signers and with the and Chief Operating Offi cer in seat manufacturer 2005. He is also Chairman of Hong to come up with Kong Dragon Airlines Limited and the concept, which Director of John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Tony Tyler provides a good Limited and Swire Pacifi c Limited. balance between privacy and connected- while not addressing the problem – an intelligence Tyler served as Chairman of the International ness. So when you’re in our fi rst class, none of the problem. Fix that. Don’t make our lives even more Air Transport Association (IATA) Board of other passengers can see you. And yet the cabin diffi cult than they already are. Governors until June 2010. crew, when they’re moving around the cabin mak- What are the biggest frustrations in ing sure everyone is comfortable, can see you and running an airline? COMPANY BRIEF Founded in Hong you can see them, and so it’s unobtrusive in that The diffi culty in running an airline as a busi- Kong in 1946, Airways sort of surveillance of your needs. But when you’re ness is that so much of what impacts your busi- (www.cathaypacifi c.com) is an international sitting in your suite, you’re on your own. ness and your fi nancial results are outside your airline registered and based in , of- We also decided to make the cabin look control. The obvious example is fuel prices. We fering scheduled cargo and passenger services to nicer and also to give people this control as- go into great detail planning our business for the more than 110 destinations around the world. pect that I mentioned. We got rid of the over- next three years but, at the end of the day, the Cathay Pacifi c and its subsidiaries and associ- head bins where people put their bags, because bottom line in our budget is going to depend on ates employ more than 26,000 staff in Hong Kong they’re ugly and make the cabin feel low. So how accurately we guess the future fuel prices. and worldwide. The airline’s two major share- we created storage space under the ottoman in The exchange rates, again, are totally outside of holders are both Hong Kong companies listed front of you to put your roller bag. Then we our control and have a huge impact. The amount on the , as is Cathay added a little closet where you can put your of regulation and government involvement in the Pacifi c itself. Cathay Pacifi c is the major share- briefcase and hang your suit. So you have your industry can also be frustrating. Of course, there holder in AHK Limited, an all- stuff right with you. You don’t even have to has to be regulation on safety and on the technical cargo carrier that offers scheduled services in the stand up to get it – you just have to reach out. side, but there is much too much regulation on the Asia region, and owns 100 percent of Hong Kong Including your pajamas if you want to commercial side. Dragon Airlines Limited. In addition, Cathay change? What is the most exciting development Pacifi c is a founding member of the oneworld You can’t change in the suite. You need to go for Cathay Pacifi c in the years ahead? global alliance whose combined network serves to the facility to change, but on the 747, we’ve also The most exciting thing is going to be China, over 700 destinations worldwide. expanded the size of the lavatory. We don’t make because China is going to drive expansion of a big thing about it in our promotion, but people Cathay Pacifi c over the next 10 to 15 years, both Cathay Pacifi c’s fi rst-class cabins are luxu- who fl y with us often comment about how we’ve through travel into China and through the out- rious and well confi gured. In fact, your given people a nice spacious lavatory. bound market. We’re seeing what happened be- planes in fi rst class are nicer than your of- What needs to be done to improve the fore in Japan, Korea, and now happening fi ce and headquarters. security situation at the airports? in mainland China, but the difference is that China Of course, because we’re an organization The bane of our lives is all the security issues has a billion and a half people. They’re not all that is run for our customers, not for our staff. The we have to deal with. And they’re about to get immediately going to be rich enough to get on a offi ce has to be functional, it has to be working, worse because of the underpants bomber. That Cathay Pacifi c fl ight to Sydney, but there are an but we want fi rst class to be as comfortable as was a failure of intelligence. The authorities had awful lot of them who will be and who are already. anything our customers have ever experienced. been warned about this guy; he was on their ra- We’re ideally well placed to tap into that. And, of How did you come up with your new dar screen already, and yet he was able to board course, in-bound travel into China, whether it’s fi rst-class design? the aircraft with underpants full of explosives. But businessmen doing deals, whether it’s people ac- First of all, we asked our passengers what the reaction of the authorities to this incident has cessing or providing capital to the Chinese market, they wanted and they said they wanted privacy, not been to admit that they need to sort out their more often now accessing Chinese capital, or tour- control of their own environment, and high levels intelligence processing; it has basically been to im- ists going there to see this amazing place.• of comfort. But they also said they wanted the high- pose more restrictions and costs on us and make touch level of service as well, which to us meant, life much more diffi cult for us and our customers, Cathay Pacifi c’s roomy fi rst class

78 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2010 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 33, NUMBER 3