BUZZ is publishing two obituaries of John Warham, a well known character around Sai Kung and a leading light in the fight against Cathay Pacific in their longest legal dispute – the 49ers.
John Warham (25 March 1952 – 2 June 2022)
At John’s funeral in Thailand
Friends have been raising a glass at memorials for Captain John Warham as a funeral ceremony was prepared for 10 – 11 June in Koh Samui, Thailand, where the long-time Sai Kung resident had retired.
John Warham was the Cathay Pacific pilots’ union negotiator at the heart of one of Hong Kong’s longest-running industrial disputes. He is also remembered as a father, grandfather, avid cricket and Formula 1 fan, rock-band keyboardist, co-founder of the Animals Asia charity and fond companion to his wife Klaske Kragt.
John was one of 49 pilots sacked by Cathay in 2001 following the failure of a lengthy period of negotiations with the airline’s management over cost-cutting, pay, rostering and safety issues despite pleas by government arbitrators for both sides to come to an agreement.
John’s first book on the 49ers controversy
The dismissed pilots became known as the 49ers, a phrase which formed the title of two books written by John centring on his involvement in the dispute and a succession of court cases that followed.
He had retired to Koh Samui, Thailand, in 2013 where he lived with Klaske Kragt whom he had net in Sai Kung. The couple married in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2015, and John also leaves son Richard, daughter Nicola and three grandchildren.
Outside his work as a pilot and union official, John was a co-founder of Animals Asia, a charity set up to rescue bears from bile farming. Colleagues in the charity credit his ”guidance and passion” as board member and chairman for two decades as “contributing significantly” to ending bile farming in Vietnam.
Airline pilot and author John Warham in New York
He founded Animals Asia with his former wife Jill Robinson and had worked for the charity until shortly after suffering a stroke in December 2018.
“The Animals Asia hospital at the bear sanctuary in Tam Dao National Park, Vietnam, was named in his honour as was a bear named Hercules John. The board and the staff worldwide will miss a truly remarkable man,” Robinson said.
John was born in the northern English county of Yorkshire and began his career with provincial airlines in Britain in 1975 before joining Cathay Pacific where he was made a Boeing 747 captain in 1989.
A close family friend described John as having taken on a “David and Goliath battle when he fought Cathay. Not many would have put up a fight like that.
“He came across as a blunt, no-nonsense northerner, but behind the gruff exterior was a heart of gold,” the friend, who asked not to be identified, said.
A friend
John Warham: To unionist pilots a hero, to airline management the captain from hell
Former Cathay Pacific B747 Captain and author John Warham
No Hong Kong-based airline pilot made a greater name for himself in recent decades that Captain John Warham, who died Wednesday 2 June. In the industrial dispute at Cathay Pacific that led to the sacking of 49 pilots, John was to unionist flyers a hero. To the airline management he was the Captain from Hell. John was a highly intelligent man who had incredible tenacity. He fought Cathay for 10 years in courts in multiple countries. This was chronicled in his book, “The 49ers: The True Story”. For aviation buffs, it is a fine read. For unionists, it is a textbook.
John’s second book on the 49ers controversy
John was well-known in Sai Kung – CWB where he lived for many years while still flying for Cathay. He was married firstly to Jill Robinson, with whom he founded Animals Asia, the Hong Kong-born charity that is most admired by animal welfare people in the city. AA rescues bears from cruel, evil bile farms and gives them happy lives in sanctuaries. Later John married Klaske Kragt, a Dutch teacher he met in Sai Kung. They moved to Koh Samui where friends held a wake with Klaske in recent days.
John with Klaske Kragt
John was a charming man with people he liked, often sticking his tongue out the corner of his mouth, a common mannerism. If he took a dislike to you, look out. He’d turn his superiority complex on you. He was so intelligent he could dominate most people intellectually. A competitive man who worked on developing his talents, he played keyboard with a local band in the Duke of York pub, Sai Kung.
HONG KONG BUZZ has written several times about this astonishing, admirable character. RIP Captain John Warham. Here are links to our earlier stories including my review of The 49ers, review of his second book, and story on marriage to KK.
https://hongkongbuzz.hk/2015/11/john-warham-seals-deal-with-new-love-in-his-life
https://hongkongbuzz.hk/2015/08/john-warham-ex-cathay-captain-rolls-out-sequel-to-the-49ers
https://hongkongbuzz.hk/2015/09/ex-cathay-captains-revelations
Roger Medcalf
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