Now that the Asian financial hub has scrapped onerous hotel quarantine rules, the airline is looking to build up passenger numbers.
"Cathay has a mountain to climb to replace the staff, particularly pilots, that have left and continue to leave," he said.
Lam, 50, joined Cathay in 1996, and was previously its chief customer and commercial officer.
The two men took the top jobs in August 2019, after the resignation of then chief executive Rupert Hogg and Paul Loo, chief customer and commercial officer, amid mounting Chinese regulatory scrutiny of employees' involvement in the protests.
Cathay's new chief customer and commercial officer is Lavinia Lau, 52, who moves from the role of director of customer travel, into a strong position to become its first female chief executive.