The Hong Kong airline aims to recruit around 300 cabin crew members this year, and said over 500 applicants turned up to the recent recruitment day. Successful applicants will undergo a seven week all-round training program, including four weeks safety and emergency training, three weeks in hospitality, team building and Wing Chun.
Wing Chun is a concept-based Chinese martial art and form of self defense that specializes in real world, close range combat.
It has emerged that violent attacks on cabin crew in incidents of passenger rage have been on the rise during Hong Kong flights from the Chinese mainland. Hong Kong Airlines' corporate communications department said its flight attendants had been receiving basic Wing Chun training since mid 2011 to boost their health and strength and to give them more confidence in dealing with emergencies on planes. This includes self defense movements to deal with unruly passengers.
While alcohol or drugs are usually triggers in rage incidents in the West, the mainland China incidents typically involve passengers angered about flight delays, which are mostly caused by airspace-related issues and are beyond the control of the airlines themselves.
Hong Kong Airlines' route network includes flights to Hong Kong from numerous points in mainland China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guilin, Haikou, Harbin, Kunming, Nanjing and Xiamen. From its Hong Kong base the airline also flies to Berlin and Brussels in Europe, to Okinawa in Japan, Phuket and Bangkok in Thailand, Hanoi in Vietnam, Male in the Maldives, Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, Taipei and Taichung in Taiwan and Bali in Indonesia.
Hong Kong Airlines now operates more independently from sister airline Hong Kong Express, which relaunched in October 2013 as a Low Cost Carrier (LCC). The two airlines were operated by the same management team, with both carriers being owned by Hainan-based HNA – mainland China's fourth largest airline conglomerate. Now they have separate management and sales and marketing teams.
Hong Kong Express' route network includes flights from Hong Kong to Chiang Mai and Phuket in Thailand, Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) and Penang in Malaysia, Kunming in China, Taichung in Taiwan and Tokyo and Osaka in Japan. It is positioning itself as 'Hong Kong's one-and-only low-fare airline' and targeting what it sees is a huge opportunity in the LCC market in Hong Kong.
Like its sister Hong Kong Airlines, Hong Kong Express has been on a recruitment drive too and plans to have brought on some 300 new cabin crew by the end of 2015.
The two airlines operate in and out of a major regional air hub, in Hong Kong, and compete in a fiercely competitive market. Along with attractively priced air fares, the marketing and promotion executives at Hong Kong Airlines also focus on wooing passengers with pre and post initiatives.
Like the airline's Air to Home online shopping service, in which passengers who live in Hong Kong can purchase food, wine and lifestyle products online through the Hong Kong Airlines website and have these purchases home-delivered.
Nguyen An Tra My
Martin Wynn
