Cathay Pacific has virtually grounded all flights just operating 3% of their schedule in April & May, which includes just two flights a week to Los Angeles. Usually Cathay Pacific would operate over 120 flights a week to the United States.

The South China Morning Post was able to obtain a memo issued to staff on Friday in which they described the hard decision they had to make amid the worsening economic impact, and employing US-based flight attendants was “no longer viable.”

Cathay Pacific will lay off almost 300 employees in the United States and close its cabin crew bases in Los Angeles, San Francisco & New York, in its biggest cutback of employees during the coronavirus pandemic.

“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic which has virtually halted global travel, Cathay Pacific has made the difficult decision to close its US cabin crew bases,” an airline spokeswoman said.