Cathay Pacific wants to fight against "theft"

Cathay Pacific promised to act after stories of food, drinks and other objects stolen from planes had exploded.

Items such as Haagen-Dazs ice cream mini-bins, champagne bottles and cutlery would have disappeared.

According to reports, the cabin crew would be to blame, but the company's boss, Rupert Hogg, said the blame may be elsewhere.

"The most important problem is theft and does not necessarily concern cabin crews," he told BBC Radio 4's "Today" show.

"We lose, I do not know, wine or things like that, whether by plane or somewhere in the supply chain."

Mr. Hogg added that the airline was determined to stop the losses and added, "We have the support of the unions to do this, let's try to fix it."

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According to the South China Morning Post, six employees were under investigation Saturday and risk disciplinary action after security checks at Hong Kong International Airport.

He added that staff members had been notified by email earlier this year of the possibility of removing objects from planes and that they were warned that there would be a "zero tolerance".

The email added that employees could only take items for personal use and could be punished for taking something else – even if they thought it was going to be thrown away or wasted.

In a statement, the airline said: "Given the growing number of reported losses of the company's badets, we informed our cabin crew that random inspections would be conducted.

"We treat business fairly and reasonably, in accordance with the standard internal procedure."

Cathay Pacific has already had disputes with employees about robbery.

In 1993, the leader of a three-week strike team who wanted to improve working conditions was fired after being accused of stealing nuts and a bottle of water.