Unsafe at Altitude: Chinese Pilots' Working Conditions 'Threaten Flight Safety'

Steven Schwankert | May 15, 2014 12:00 pm | 5 comments | 4406 reads

"More than 100 pilots" at Air China have signed a letter demanding they receive equal pay and conditions as foreign pilots employed by the airline, saying that failure to rectify the situation could "threaten flight safety," the South China Morning Post reported.

In the letter, the authenticity of which the Beijinger could not independently verify, the pilots state that they are required to fly more hours at a lower wage, and with less vacation time than their foreign counterparts, the report said. Air China uses Beijing Capital International Airport as its hub, and the company is also headquartered in Beijing.

"The sense of superiority in the bones of white people, plus unfair payments, has made the relationship between Chinese and foreign pilots intense, extremely unhelpful to cockpit management and will eventually threaten flight safety," the letter states. It appeared on some Chinese news sites and on social media earlier this month, but is now difficult to find. The letter did not say if conditions at other airlines were similar.

Air China employs 3,700 people, according to the Post, but how many foreign pilots are currently working for the airline, or their specific benefits package is unknown. It is also not known if foreign pilots are flying as many domestic routes as their counterparts from China. Unlike many of their international counterparts, pilots in China do not belong to a labor union.

The demand for air travel in China, and therefore crews to fly a growing number of flights, continues to expand rapidly. A report by Boeing estimated that China will need over 77,000 new pilots by 2032. Anybody looking for a job?

Photo: Wikimedia

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britomart's picture britomart Submitted by Guest on Fri, 05/16/2014 - 11:51

azizazoz2007@hotmail.com wrote:

Okay they don't desrve a thing frist of all these pilots didn't pay a single kuai to be pilot and still ask for money plus they are poorly trained so if you want same like other pilots frist pay your education fee then go work outside not sleep in the class and dream to be mollioner next time air china when you hire people and pay thier education make 10 year contract , and when they want to leave they have to pay the education fee.

It sounds like you speak from experience? Is what you describe standard for Chinese pilots' education/training/employment?

Doubt wisely; in strange way / To stand inquiring right is not to stray; / To sleep, or run wrong, is. (Donne, Satire III)

azizazoz2007@hotmail.com's picture azizazoz2007@hotmail.com Submitted by Guest on Fri, 05/16/2014 - 09:51

Okay they don't desrve a thing frist of all these pilots didn't pay a single kuai to be pilot and still ask for money plus they are poorly trained so if you want same like other pilots frist pay your education fee then go work outside not sleep in the class and dream to be mollioner next time air china when you hire people and pay thier education make 10 year contract , and when they want to leave they have to pay the education fee.

bluefish's picture bluefish Submitted by Guest on Thu, 05/15/2014 - 13:54

There's no "sense of superiority in the bones of white people" you nit. At least, no more than in the bones of Chinese people. I wish people would take a lesson in basic economics before they got their underwear all bunched up.

You can't ask a highly-trained professional to move to the other side of the world and take a job unless you're willing to pay them a salary that is at least competative with what they'd get if they stayed right where they are in their own culture and with their own family. That's why you can't find 1 decent "English teacher" out of 200. No one who has the training and experience to be really good is going to come live in a glorified hotel room that stinks of the sewer, be treated like a slave and get 1/4 of the salary they could command at home-and probably get cheated out of their flight reimbursement at the end, too. And if you need foreign pilots to fly routes outside China in countries where they live, you have to offer salaries relative to the cost of living and economics of where they actually have to live and work: not where your company comes from. If you don't, no one will ever come work for you. That's not "sense of superiority." That's "have to feed my family." We also sometimes call this the "real world." Wecome to it. It's where the grownups live.

I'd ask the letter writers: would YOU move to, say, Sudan to work for Sudan Air at half the salary and twice the hours you have now? Of course not. Does that mean that all Chinese people have an evil sense of superiority that is going to threaten flight safety? I leave that you to answer.

Whether or not the pilots should be paid more or have different hours in entirely relative to the cost of living and economics of their home, and objective realities of human ability and endurance relative to flight safety. It's also their responsibility to fight for if they're being cheated. It has nothing to do with racism.

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