Kinesiske flygere - Godt betalte husmenn

300 grounded Chinese pilots slapped with huge fees for resignation


A Chinese pilot in an Airbus 350 in France.

Two to three hundred pilots in China are grounded because of contract disputes with their airline companies. The contracts are trying to keep pilots for life, the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Weekly reports, citing former national airline pilot Zhao Hong.

Zhao has been grounded over the past three years during his legal battle with his former employer, Air China.

In the eyes of the general public, pilots are admired for their high salaries and high lifestyles, but pilots themselves feel trapped in an invisible "cage."

For Zhao, the reason is simple: he wants to resign, but Air China rejected his application, thus leading to a lawsuit.

A week ago, more than 180 pilots jointly submitted a public letter to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, calling for the abolition of restrictive regulations that have been followed for many years, and allowing them to freely choose their jobs.

Over the past week, more than 100 pilots have joined the ranks, making the signatory list over 300-strong.

Zhao, a pilot with nearly 20 years of experience, is one of the main sponsors for the letter. "When our life reaches a certain level, we will begin asking 'what's the value of life?'" he said.

Zhao said his life as a pilot is like a machine, always working. Although he gets paid a monthly salary of more than 50,000 yuan (US$8,150), he eventually got tired of Air China. In Oct 2010, Zhao submitted his resignation, planning to take a rest for a while and then seek a more humane company. He wants to get out of the endless flying loop, spend more time with his family, travel and take photos.

After failing to persuade Zhao to stay with the company, Air China demanded 3 million yuan (US$480,000) in compensation for training costs. Almost all pilots are asked for huge sums of money if they submit a resignation. One pilot even reported being slapped with 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million).

More than 300 pilots delivered the public letter asking for freedom, but Chinese airlines are already neck-deep in debt after investing in aircraft to cope with the rapidly growing market in China. The market needs pilots.

China has been a big buyer of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner jets, with China Southern Airlines having ordered 10 aircraft, and other airlines such as Air China and Hainan Airlines having ordered more than 30. Boeing can only produce seven 787 jets a month.

Boeing earlier this month projected that by 2032, China's aircraft fleet will triple current levels, driving traffic in China's aviation market to grow by nearly 7% a year on average.

CAAC estimated that Chinese airlines plan to buy more than 350 aircraft in 2013.