China aviation authority denies pilot strike reports
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-04 18:17
BEIJING - China's aviation watchdog denied media reports on Friday of a recent alleged pilot strike, insisting a severe weather condition was to blame for the flight returns on Monday.
Recent media reports said pilots flying 14 to 18 China Eastern Airlines routes refused to land and returned to their departure points during regional flights in the southwestern Yunnan Province on Monday.
A woman guards the door during a China Eastern airline's shareholders meeting in Shanghai January 8, 2008. China's aviation watchdog denied media reports on Friday of a recent alleged pilot strike. [Agencies]
The number of affected passengers was not immediately available.
Sources within both the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the airline's Yunnan branch told Xinhua it was the severe windy weather that had forced the flights to return, rejecting media reports of a pilot strike.
CAAC also denied reports of an emergency meeting held by the administration that said it mulled life bans for pilots who were responsible for organizing the alleged strike.
Pilots refused to disclose any details of the incidents.
Beijing-based Caijing magazine quoted a CAAC publicity official on Friday, saying the administration would not punish pilots and continued efforts were being made to ensure future flights went smoothly to protect passenger interests.
This week, media reports said a pilot strike loomed large in China as 40 Shanghai Airlines pilots had called in sick at the same time on March 14. At the newly-founded Wuhan East Star Airline, 11 pilots asked for sick leave on March 28.
Sources within the involved airlines were not available to confirm the incidents.
The Beijing-based Caijing reported the alleged strike action aimed to call for better treatment of pilots and urged the airlines to improve management, quoting a source close to the reported case.
Zhu Wenchuan, an expert on aviation security, said Chinese pilots had experienced increasing workloads of late, but stagnant wage rises. In addition, the management system of some domestic airlines limited pilots' personal development.
China has 12,000 pilots. Official figures predicted the total number of flights would increase 80 percent by 2010, meaning 6,500 more pilots were required.
It generally costs a Chinese airline about 700,000 yuan (US$100,000) to 1.8 million yuan to train a pilot.
China aviation authority denies pilot strike reports