Cathay Pacific flight attendants protest outside the airline's headquarters on the second day of their protest action near the Hong Kong international airport on Thursday. 

AFP/Hong Kong

Flight attendants from Hong Kong's flagship airline Cathay Pacific threatened a summer strike on Thursday if management does not scrap a new policy to reduce salaries and perks for cabin crew.

The warning came after a two-day sit-in held by flight attendants inside Terminal 1 of the city's international Chek Lap Kok airport, which failed to win any concessions.

"If... (chief executive) Mr Chu decides not respond, we have no other choice but to start promoting the strike (among members)" said Dora Lai, head of Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union, at the airline's headquarters.

Around 200 cabin crew who had been staging the airport sit-in also gathered at the headquarters to continue their protest.

They chanted "Respect the union" and held up placards reading "No more Cut! Cut! Cut!" and "Cathay Pacific cabin crew strike".

Lai said the union would mobilise its 6,400 members to strike for two weeks starting on August 18 if the company did not listen to their demands.

The protests kicked off on Tuesday in response to cuts made by the airline.

Under the new rules, cabin crew who joined the airline after April 16 will only see their wages rise to HK$159.40 ($20.56) after their first three years with the company, down from HK$176.80 for those who signed contracts before April 2.

The union is also protesting over cuts to lunch allowances for attendants flying through Melbourne, Australia, and a legal protection clause which it says the airline has deleted from its operational manual.

The clause says Cathay will cover legal costs resulting from any incident which occurs while cabin crew are on duty, according to the union.

Lai said that they were still hoping to talk with CEO Ivan Chu and avert the strike.

"We just want to have our company give us what we had before," she said.

The airline said it was prepared to meet with the union but that it would take time to arrange.

"We just received the invitation, we probably have to check the schedule," said Maggie Yeung, the airline's general manager of cabin crew.

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