Name: Eric Odone
Title: Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Americas
Company, city: Cathay Pacific Airways, based in San Francisco, Calif.
Number of employees: 22,000 worldwide
Recent project: Successfully launched Newark–Hong Kong daily service on March 1, 2014. Newark is Cathay Pacific’s seventh North American gateway.
First job: Reservation agent for Air France in London, answering calls from Scotland. I struggled with Scottish accents and they sometimes struggled with mine.
Little-known facts about you: Although I am French by nationality, I lived in France for only eight years. I became fascinated by airplanes on my first flight at age six — a 27-hour journey between Paris and New Caledonia. I have worked in the airline industry throughout my adult life and still feel a thrill every time I step onto an aircraft.
Your Business
Essential business philosophy: Hire people I genuinely want to work with, provide clear direction, and foster teamwork. When people join forces and collaborate, work becomes easier and the results are better.
Best way to keep a competitive edge: Listen to customers. There is no better source of insight. Focus relentlessly on customer benefits and never rest on past achievements.
Yardstick of success: Growth of our North American network. Over the last four years, we increased weekly flights between North America and Hong Kong from 66 to 104. I also value direct feedback from customers and partners at events — that input is invaluable. And of course, having an outstanding product matters immensely.
As A Traveler
What is the most important item you take when traveling? My iPod. Music is essential — it makes delays and disruptions much easier to bear.
How do you spend your time on board: I complete urgent work before boarding, then concentrate on enjoying the flight so I arrive refreshed and ready. I appreciate great Champagne, excellent food, and ample personal space. I also enjoy watching foreign films — French, Chinese and Indian cinema are among my favorites.
What is your favorite restaurant in the world? Domnik’s Beach Shack on Benaulim Beach in Goa. The food is fresh, wholesome and unpretentious.
What is your favorite destination in the world? India. Its history, legends, varied landscapes, incredible cuisine and warm people captivate me. I have visited regularly since 1991 and love the energy; it inspires me to push my boundaries.
About Your Brand
Cathay Pacific has Airbus and Boeing aircraft on order but no A380 or 787. Why?
Our strategy emphasizes frequency and convenient connections through our Hong Kong hub to China and Southeast Asia. The Boeing 777-300ER fits this approach well, offering fuel efficiency and the right capacity for our network. As one of the world’s largest cargo carriers, we also consider cargo suitability; the A380 is less optimal for our cargo needs compared with our existing wide-body fleet.
We chose the Airbus A350 over the Boeing 787 because the A350 family comes in three sizes, allowing us to better match capacity to market demand. Given the long lead times between ordering and delivery, flexibility in aircraft size is an important advantage.
What’s on the horizon for Cathay Pacific in terms of new routes, gateways and equipment?
We recently added Newark as a U.S. gateway and now operate five daily flights between New York and Hong Kong. We also launched a fourth daily Los Angeles–Hong Kong flight and added three weekly frequencies from Chicago O’Hare.
We planned to open Boston–Hong Kong on May 1, 2015, making Boston our eighth North American gateway and the only nonstop link between New England and Hong Kong.
Cathay Pacific is investing heavily in cabin and lounge updates. What are the highlights?
We completed a refresh of our first-class cabins, updating upholstery, color schemes and software systems. Our menu and wine list evolve continually to meet frequent travelers’ expectations, while maintaining signature touches such as Krug Champagne, caviar and freshly prepared items.
Our award-winning business class is now available across all North American routes and has received outstanding feedback, reflecting input from our regular customers. Premium economy has proven extremely popular — we added seats from all gateways. It offers priority check-in and boarding, a comfortable seat with strong recline and footrest, an amenity kit, welcome drink and business-class meals. We believe it stands apart from competing products to Asia.
We are refurbishing our medium-haul fleet across all cabins to ensure a consistent, high-quality experience end to end.
On the lounge front, we are expanding our San Francisco lounge, building a new Chicago lounge and completing the oneworld lounge at Los Angeles’ Tom Bradley International. In Hong Kong, we opened “The Bridge,” which was an immediate success, and we are refurbishing The Pier and upgrading the first-class restaurant in The Wing.
We are also preparing to introduce the A350-900 into our fleet in early 2015, which will bring new product features and enhancements.
Why should a U.S. business traveler choose Cathay Pacific over other carriers on the same route?
We offer the most frequencies to Hong Kong from North America, giving business travelers flexibility with day and night flight options and better onward connections. Multiple flights increase choices to final destinations — for example, six daily Hong Kong–Singapore flights improve connection options. Our cabins emphasize autonomy and comfort: dinner on demand in premium cabins, power at every seat, on-demand entertainment with over 100 movies, extensive music and TV selections, and snacks between meals — all included.
Hong Kong International airport is highly accessible — a 23-minute fast train into the city — and makes connections straightforward. Beyond seats and food, Cathay Pacific’s identity — a blend of European and Asian influences — shapes a distinctive service style that is both attentive and efficient. Some airlines are simply travel providers; we aim to deliver a memorable experience.