It seems the passenger had been flying Hong Kong – Okinawa on HK Express as a Cathay Pacific codeshare (UO842 / CX5842) as Typhoon Jangmi approached Japan, causing cancellations.

Here’s the rest of the chat. This looks like AI agent-assist prompt leakage, rather than the AI itself responding which is what most people seem to think.

This looks more like a human customer service agent using an internal “co-pilot” tool to write replies, and pasted their instructions into the customer WhatsApp channel instead of giving an actual response. When you see “Hi, co-pilot” and “when I say better…” this looks less like a system prompt and more like an instruction for an AI writing assistant.

• What’s awkward is that tool was being used to manufacture empathy: “acknowledge feelings,” “use I statements,” “positive tone,” “validating their reason.” The airline’s live human is looking to the ghost in the machine to create human emotional connection.
• And they’re doing this when what the customer needs is a concrete rebooking option. The instruction is focused on sounding empathetic, not resolving the problem, which seems like what AI is actually useful for.
• Even if a human sent it, they didn’t read it first. AI can make us faster and more efficient, but also more careless.
• Seeing the machine instruction behind the empathy causes the resulting message to fall flat. We respond to human emotion as though it’s genuine, but once it’s revealed to be manufactured it loses all force.

Cathay has promoted Microsoft Copilot adoption internally, with the usual pablum about “humans remain in the driving seat.” That’s why I think the framing of “Hi, co-pilot” makes sense that this was a drafting tool copy/paste. And everyone knows that co-pilot is terrible.

Airlines have been working on automated chatbots for decades. The first one I remember was Alaska’s Jenn which launched in 2008 to answer common questions. I never found it especially useful, but it could direct you to information that was otherwise available online. It was more ‘Ask Jeeves’ (phrase your queries in natural language) than AI.

Since then airlines have moved from FAQ bot to something closer to AI for both automated rebooking and agent assistance. American Airlines was explicit about use of AI in automated rebookings.

These chatbots seem to be mostly fine for getting basic information in the Jenn sense of taking natural language queries, searching for answers in a database, and returning simple responses to passengers. They’re not yet there for handling exception cases and acting as a true agent. It seems like the Frontier models are capable of this, but the actual airline implementations fall short. Are their tech teams just unable to work with top products? Or unwilling to spend the tokens (the best AI may be more expensive than offshored agents)?

Two years ago Air Canada was held liable for the bad information its chatbot gave out. The airline argued they weren’t responsible for it, but that didn’t fly. Of course, airline human agents give out bad information all the time. Getting call center recordings is very tough and they’re rarely held to account.

Credits: Cathay Pacific

The post Airlines Are Using AI To Manufacture Empathy Instead Of Solving Problems — One Passenger Was Sent The Prompt By Mistake first appeared on AircrewNews.com.

SIA will increase services between Singapore and Amsterdam from daily to 10 weekly flights between August 1 and October 22, 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.

The additional Amsterdam frequencies build on recent European network growth, including increased services to Manchester, Milan and Munich, a double-daily operation to London Gatwick, and a new five-times-weekly Madrid service via Barcelona.

Separately, SIA and Air New Zealand will increase capacity across their joint Singapore-New Zealand network by 17 per cent, adding around 72,000 seats.

Air New Zealand will launch a new three-times-weekly Singapore-Christchurch service and add four weekly Auckland-Singapore flights. Combined with SIA’s existing Christchurch operations, the airlines will offer up to 15 weekly Christchurch services during the peak period from November 2026 to February 2027.

SIA will also deploy the Airbus A380 on one of its two daily Auckland services, replacing the Boeing 777-300ER on that frequency.

Cathay Pacific to launch Almaty flights
Cathay Pacific will commence direct flights between Hong Kong and Almaty in the first quarter of 2027, marking the airline’s first destination in Central Asia.

The carrier intends to operate three weekly flights using Airbus A330-300 aircraft. The route will be the only direct air service between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan.

The new service will expand Cathay Pacific’s network in Central Asia and strengthen connectivity between Hong Kong and a key Belt and Road market.

Philippine Airlines, Qantas strengthen frequent flyer partnership
Philippine Airlines and Qantas Airways have expanded their frequent flyer partnership, allowing members of the Mabuhay Miles and Qantas Frequent Flyer programmes to redeem points across both airlines’ networks.

Mabuhay Miles members can now redeem miles on Qantas international and domestic flights, while Qantas Frequent Flyer members gain access to Philippine Airlines’ network across the Philippines and South-east Asia.

The agreement broadens redemption options across both carriers and marks the fourth airline partnership under the Mabuhay Miles programme.

Vietjet adds Prague and Nha Trang routes in network expansion
Vietjet will launch services between Hanoi and Prague from October 10, 2026, and between Nha Trang and Singapore from December 11, 2026.

The additions expand the airline’s European and South-east Asian network, strengthen connectivity between Vietnam and key international markets, and increase access to destinations across Vietjet’s network.

The new Hanoi-Prague route will operate twice weekly using Airbus A330 aircraft, with a stop in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The service marks Vietjet’s expansion into the Czech market and further strengthens links between Vietnam and Europe.

Vietjet has also introduced a new direct service between Nha Trang and Singapore. The route will operate four times weekly and will become the airline’s fifth direct connection between Singapore and Vietnam.

Credits: TTG

The post Aviation roundup: Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and more first appeared on AircrewNews.com.