2018–present: Economic hardship and scaling back
In late 2018, a series of leaders resigned from the carrier's management, including its board's two co-chairmen Mung Kin-keung and Zhang Kui, its chief financial officer and vice-chairman, and at least four other directors.[24] Hou Wei, who was vice-president and chief marketing officer at Hainan Airlines, later took over as chairman.[25]
The attempted expansion was draining the company financially, and in March 2019, Hong Kong Airlines announced a cutback in its passenger fleet from 38 to 28 planes, and reduced services on some of its new international routes, including to Vancouver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.[26][27]
In an attempt to roll back loss-making long-haul services in favour of more profitable Asian destinations, flights to Gold Coast and Cairns were suspended from October 2018, and the last Auckland flight departed for Hong Kong on 22 May 2019.[28][29] HKA also discontinued its Fuzhou service in September 2019, while its San Francisco route was halted in October 2019less than two years after its launch in March 2018. In turn, the carrier increased the number of flights to three other short-haul destinations: Haikou, Hangzhou, and Sapporo.[30]
By November 2019, HKA was facing severe financial difficulties due to the China–US trade war and 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. It was reportedly unable to pay employees' salaries on time.[31] The airline announced that it would end its remaining long-haul routes (to Los Angeles and Vancouver) starting February 2020, thus becoming a purely regional airline.[32] It also announced the termination of its in-flight entertainment system from 1 December 2019 to cut costs.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 further worsened HKA's financial crisis. On 7 February 2020, the airline announced that it was cutting 400 positions (equivalent to 10% of its workforce), mainly pilots and cabin crew. It also asked remaining staff to take two months of unpaid leave, or to switch to a three-day work week.[32] On 18 February, HKA announced that it would suspend in-flight services such as food, drinks, pillows, and blankets to protect customers and crew during the pandemic. However, this was later reported to be "a desperate attempt to cut costs" as the airline faced a potential collapse. The following day, the airline announced that it would lay off an additional 170 employees, mostly cabin crew.[33]
In June 2021, Hong Kong Airlines announced that it would ground its entire fleet of A320s, leaving only eight A330s flying in the interim and prioritizing cargo, as part of its pandemic-survival plan. The plan also called for hundreds more jobs to be cut.[34]
Hong Kong Airlines has resumed their flights to Hakodate, Denpasar, Maldives, Saipan and Taichung, Taiwan due to the boost of travelling markets.
On 22 August 2024, HKA Chairman Jeff Sun announced that Hong Kong Airlines will reboot the flights to Gold Coast (OOL) in January 2025. At the mean time, Sun claimed they will import three used Boeing 787s from its parent company Hainan Airlines to the long-haul flights from Hong Kong to Canada and US re-introducing back in 2025; since the fleet of Airbus A350 had been sold in 2023.
On 21 November 2024, Chairman of Hong Kong Airlines, Yan Bo was reported to have told Hong Kong-based media that the airline is in plans of acquiring Comac's C919 aircraft following 12 months of sustained fleet growth (from 21 to 30 aircraft over 2024) and the resumption of long-haul flights especially to North America. The airline was expected to have 5 million passengers in year 2024.[35] On 28 November 2024, it was reported that Hong Kong Airline will resume its long haul services with the resumption of routes to Gold Coast, Australia and Vancouver, Canada beginning 17 January 2025.[36]
