Tom Owen, Director Cargo at Cathay Pacific Airways, had a problem. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the grounding of passenger flights meant the sudden loss of 50% of the airline's cargo carrying capacity. But the bigger challenge was that the Hong Kong government imposed severe quarantine restrictions on air crew who operated flights, and when aircraft arrived at destinations around the world, their crew faced other restrictions. The operations team devised a closed loop system that would allow flights to operate with a range of staffing requirements. For the company, freighter service provided critical cash flow, and the operations team had brought forward a choice. Should Cathay focus most of its cargo service on regional routes out and back from Hong Kong, or should it operate long haul to Europe and the Americas? What would be best for cash flow, and what would be best for the crews?