Outstanding Staff Honoured for Exceptional Service at the 10th Betsy Awards

Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair recognised 29 staff for their extraordinary customer service to passengers at the annual Betsy Awards Presentation Ceremony today.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Betsy Awards, an annual programme that expresses the company's appreciation to staff for service excellence beyond the call of duty.

This year's award-winning local and overseas staff demonstrated great care and professionalism towards passengers who were once in need, from medical emergencies to unexpected incidents.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Ivan Chu said: "This year, Cathay Pacific is honoured to win 'World's Best Airline' in the annual Skytrax World Airline Awards for the fourth time - the only airline in the world to achieve such a feat. Our frontline staff's efforts to provide service straight from the heart are an important contribution to this achievement. Today's award-winning staff are shining examples of our service philosophy."

This year's top winner was a team of two - New York-based Manager on Duty Christine Hew and Supervisor Phyllis Chan.

Due to poor weather conditions at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the New York-bound CX840 service was diverted to Boston. Christine and Phyllis were asked to provide assistance to the diverted passengers and arrange hotel accommodation for them.

Reckoning that the passengers - especially those who didn't speak English - might encounter difficulties travelling all the way from Boston to New York, Christine and Phyllis decided to go the extra mile by catching a morning flight to Boston and renting a car to drive to the hotel and meet the passengers. After meeting up with the passengers, they handed out apology letters and lent whatever support was needed, including buying diapers and formula for the infants.

Christine and Phyllis stayed in Boston until all the affected passengers had departed for New York.

The staff, who had been working for 24 hours non-stop, received high praise from the passengers for their sincere care and outstanding service.

Other winning acts this year include:

• Stepping up to help elderly and young passengers who needed to stay at a foreign country due to an unpredicted situation
• Accompanying a seriously injured passenger to the hospital and taking care of his family until he was discharged
• Helping a passenger recover her precious engagement ring that was accidentally dropped during a flight
• Assisting a passenger to execute his secret plan to propose to his girlfriend on board
• Offering a warm fruity remedy voluntarily to a passenger who felt unwell