Katie comes from a grassroots family and grew up in Tung Chung. When she was a young girl, she would watch airplanes take off and land, wishing one day she too could soar the skies. She first came across Swire when Cathay Pacific volunteers came to her school to teach english. She was then invited on a community flight where she experienced flying for the first time. It was then when she decided she wanted to become a pilot and travel the globe. Through community efforts like the “I can flly” programme, as well as the Cadet Pilot Programme, Swire has nurtured Hong Kong’s next generation of aviators and engineers, and has given young people like Katie, regardless of their background, the chance to let their dreams take off.

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CADET PILOT PROGRAMME

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On the journey of becoming a Cathay Pacific Captain, the airline will offer a range of training sessions by highly skilled professionals.  People who aspire to be a pilot will be able to enjoy a variety of experiences through the 55-week long training programme conducted at Flight Training Adelaide (FTA) in Australia.  The training includes 160 hours of flying by day and night, in a variety of single and twin-engine light aircraft, and 40 hours in simulators.  The intensive classroom lectures also help prepare many examinations that must be passed to obtain CPL licence.  The aim of the programme is to help people with little or no flying experience achieve their dream in becoming a fully qualified cadets in Cathay Pacific.  

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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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Cathay Pacific launched the I Can Fly Programme in 2003, an airline flagship youth programme led by Cathay Pacific pilots and staff volunteers.  It combined essence of social service with aviation know-how, providing opportunities to teenagers who dream to be a pilot to experience different aviation facilities, design and implement social-service projects, travel to overseas countries and attend lectures to understand different aspects of aviation.

 

Four years later, in 2007, Cathay Pacific launched two more programmes.  The English on Air Programme invited more than 2000 students to Cathay Pacific City where there were interactive activities, conversation sessions and mock job interviews to improve students’ proficiency in English.  The other programme is the Cathay Pacific Community Flight, which provided 200 less-privileged and disabled children and their families a memorable experience to bond up in the air.  Most of the people who participated in the programme have never flown before!

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Travellers on Cathay Pacific flights are encouraged to donate money to UNICEF for the Change for Good inflight fundraising programme.  The money donated will be sent to over 150 developing countries to improve the living conditions of families.

 

The Cathay Pacific Wheelchair Bank raises funds to purchase specially adapted wheelchairs for children who suffer from neuromuscular diseases. To date, more than HK$12 million have been donated to the Wheelchair Bank.

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HAECO contributed over HK$3.2 million in donations for charitable and community engagement. Their Volunteer Leave Scheme allows staff to take a day off for every 10 hours of volunteer work approved or organised by HAECO. The Tri-County Aviation Maintenance Academy organised by HAECO Americas in conjunction with local schools in Florida offers high school students hands-on experience in the aviation maintenance industry.

 

HAECO Hong Kong provided technical support in avionics, composites and engine installation in the B-KOO Inspiration - the first homebuilt RV-8 aircraft constructed and certified in Hong Kong. The project encourages young people to develop an interest in aviation.

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