Pilots Stike!
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Pilots Strike!
No, not us, but some of our colleaques in China! Saw this gem in the Australian yesterday, so it would seem that treating professional pilots badly is a world wide systematic management code of practise. Anyway, do you think that what is happening up north has any bearing on our operations here in aussie.
Quote-
Rowan Callick, China correspondent | April 17, 2008
CHINESE pilots staged an unprecedented strike last month, refusing to land at their scheduled destinations in a sign that the nation's professionals are increasingly willing to take industrial action for better wages and conditions.
The group of 21 pilots flew their passengers to their destinations and then returned without landing, each one citing bad weather.
China's pilots are emerging as the spearhead of the professional class's growing demand for a bigger share of the country's economic success.
As inflation ratchets up in China and labour constraints surface, white collar workers are starting to organise in informal ways outside the union structures that are run by the Government and the ruling Communist Party.
Reports have only now surfaced of how 21 pilots stunned China Eastern Airlines on March 31 by refusing to land their planes at scheduled destinations, instead returning to Kunming, the capital of south-western Yunnan province.
The action left some 1500 passengers stranded in Kunming.
The pilots are all employed by Yunnan Airlines, a subsidiary of China Eastern, in which a Singapore Airlines attempt to buy a minority stake was recently rejected.
They had earlier written an open letter to the airline's management demanding better conditions. They complained of being restricted to shorter routes and thus lower wages than colleagues in China Eastern, and of working unusually long hours. They are also unhappy about the level of tax levied on their overtime.
The company at first tried to hush up the incident, then admitted that poor management was partly to blame and sacked two executives.
China has 16 domestic carriers - all government-owned but based in different provinces and highly competitive.
About 40 flight crew with Shanghai Airlines also protested against their conditions by seeking sick leave on the same day in March, and 11 pilots at East Star Airlines based in Wuhan did the same.
Most of these pilots have since announced their resignations. But the companies are fighting back by claiming massive compensation in the courts.
This month, the East China branch of the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a regulation that no airline could lose more than 1 per cent of its pilots annually. Any additional pilots who quit would be liable to pay their employer up to $324,000 compensation.
Following that decree, Eastern Airlines required its entire workforce on April 8 to pledge to "uphold professional values".
It is now seeking $1.9 million in compensation from Yunnan-based pilot Zheng Zhihong, the first to resign in the recent rash.
But the pilots are not without leverage. China's domestic tourism and business travel is expanding rapidly, and the CAAC has estimated the country will need a further 6500 pilots in the next two years. Fewer than 1000 are being trained annually.
Quote-
Rowan Callick, China correspondent | April 17, 2008
CHINESE pilots staged an unprecedented strike last month, refusing to land at their scheduled destinations in a sign that the nation's professionals are increasingly willing to take industrial action for better wages and conditions.
The group of 21 pilots flew their passengers to their destinations and then returned without landing, each one citing bad weather.
China's pilots are emerging as the spearhead of the professional class's growing demand for a bigger share of the country's economic success.
As inflation ratchets up in China and labour constraints surface, white collar workers are starting to organise in informal ways outside the union structures that are run by the Government and the ruling Communist Party.
Reports have only now surfaced of how 21 pilots stunned China Eastern Airlines on March 31 by refusing to land their planes at scheduled destinations, instead returning to Kunming, the capital of south-western Yunnan province.
The action left some 1500 passengers stranded in Kunming.
The pilots are all employed by Yunnan Airlines, a subsidiary of China Eastern, in which a Singapore Airlines attempt to buy a minority stake was recently rejected.
They had earlier written an open letter to the airline's management demanding better conditions. They complained of being restricted to shorter routes and thus lower wages than colleagues in China Eastern, and of working unusually long hours. They are also unhappy about the level of tax levied on their overtime.
The company at first tried to hush up the incident, then admitted that poor management was partly to blame and sacked two executives.
China has 16 domestic carriers - all government-owned but based in different provinces and highly competitive.
About 40 flight crew with Shanghai Airlines also protested against their conditions by seeking sick leave on the same day in March, and 11 pilots at East Star Airlines based in Wuhan did the same.
Most of these pilots have since announced their resignations. But the companies are fighting back by claiming massive compensation in the courts.
This month, the East China branch of the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a regulation that no airline could lose more than 1 per cent of its pilots annually. Any additional pilots who quit would be liable to pay their employer up to $324,000 compensation.
Following that decree, Eastern Airlines required its entire workforce on April 8 to pledge to "uphold professional values".
It is now seeking $1.9 million in compensation from Yunnan-based pilot Zheng Zhihong, the first to resign in the recent rash.
But the pilots are not without leverage. China's domestic tourism and business travel is expanding rapidly, and the CAAC has estimated the country will need a further 6500 pilots in the next two years. Fewer than 1000 are being trained annually.
Last edited by Zero_au; 18th Apr 2008 at 01:03.
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Great article, throws up some interesting points!
It shows that China still has a fair way to go until they can call themselves a market economy.. what a ridiculous piece of regulation that is, the CAA trying to regulate the pilot employment market by fining pilots for changing employers 
That would indicate that said regulation will not be enforceable as airlines will no doubt starting to poach staff from each other when they start parking aircraft due to missing crews. If pilots are only held back by fear of the fine, the new employer will no doubt offer to pay that for the new recruit and then lobby the government to scrap the regulation rather than actually pay it..
The missing 5500 pilots over the next two years are also another indication of the growing global pilot shortage. It'll be interesting to see how high packages will go and how vigorous recruiting will be from overseas markets..
Anyone care to project what that will mean for the Aussie market, both training and pilot T&C's?
This month, the East China branch of the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a regulation that no airline could lose more than 1 per cent of its pilots annually. Any additional pilots who quit would be liable to pay their employer up to $324,000 compensation.
But the pilots are not without leverage. China's domestic tourism and business travel is expanding rapidly, and the CAAC has estimated the country will need a further 6500 pilots in the next two years. Fewer than 1000 are being trained annually.
The missing 5500 pilots over the next two years are also another indication of the growing global pilot shortage. It'll be interesting to see how high packages will go and how vigorous recruiting will be from overseas markets..
Anyone care to project what that will mean for the Aussie market, both training and pilot T&C's?
Hey PAF, it wasn't a hijacking! The weather was bad at the destinations so they returned to the points of origin. Are you going to take away the captains responsibility to operate the aircraft safely?
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HMMM
PAF, I agree with your thoughts- except i don't legally think that a captain can hi-jack an aircraft technically..
He is solely responsible for the continuation, diversion or termination of the flight ( well subject to ATC too) regardless of the reason... but in China i wouldn't think he will avoid the firing squad if they wanted to make a point...
Just the same the company is solely responsible for retaining his services after said flight...woodja
He is solely responsible for the continuation, diversion or termination of the flight ( well subject to ATC too) regardless of the reason... but in China i wouldn't think he will avoid the firing squad if they wanted to make a point...
Just the same the company is solely responsible for retaining his services after said flight...woodja
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Ah come on guys yr missing the point here. It has little to do with the fact that they flew elswhere right or wrong it's the reason behind it, their way/form of protesting. Obvioulsy we here in OZ & most likely every other educated western country in the free world wouldn't try such a stunt 'cause we have other options. Unions (yes I know their hopeless) & other ways of protesting via work to rule as in by the book (which we ought to be anyway but you know what I mean) & perhaps calling in sick where possible to show that more is better than less. There are just Eg's obvioulsy examples that am sure China pilots aren't able to do so easily.
I read recently in an aero mag that China alone have around 20 new airlines that want to start up but can't due lack of pilots & airframes. With that fact(from the mag) this type of problem with poor T&C's is going to get bigger before it gets worse world wide, here is just a tiny country in the scheme of things ! I only hope that our boffins at the top take notice that if a communist country can have pilots starting to react like this what can a free world country employees like Oz do when they get pushed to the wall?
Watch this space, am sure we are only seeing the tip of a new iceberg here!
CW
I read recently in an aero mag that China alone have around 20 new airlines that want to start up but can't due lack of pilots & airframes. With that fact(from the mag) this type of problem with poor T&C's is going to get bigger before it gets worse world wide, here is just a tiny country in the scheme of things ! I only hope that our boffins at the top take notice that if a communist country can have pilots starting to react like this what can a free world country employees like Oz do when they get pushed to the wall?
Watch this space, am sure we are only seeing the tip of a new iceberg here!
CW
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so it would seem that treating professional pilots badly is a world wide systematic management code of practise.
P-A-F, it's called having some balls
This month, the East China branch of the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a regulation that no airline could lose more than 1 per cent of its pilots annually
What would happen if you retire? or die? Can they charge you for that?
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Yes, a "pilot strike".
It's stirring far and wide because the poor excuses for management, far and wide have proven incompetent, given their many performances (or lack there-of) and fail to recognize the reversal of the supply and demand equation.
It's stirring far and wide because the poor excuses for management, far and wide have proven incompetent, given their many performances (or lack there-of) and fail to recognize the reversal of the supply and demand equation.
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Airline penalized
From China Daily Friday 16.4 2008:
Quote: The CAA of China has scrapped China Easterns flights within Yunnan, and handed them to other airline operators as a punishment for the recent unauthorized flight returns. The airline was also fined 1.5 million yuan($214.000).
China Eastern yesterday said it was deeply regretful passengers were inconvenienced and apologized to the society in general. End quote.
Holding for British CAA to implement something similar for events that happened at LHR recently.
Quote: The CAA of China has scrapped China Easterns flights within Yunnan, and handed them to other airline operators as a punishment for the recent unauthorized flight returns. The airline was also fined 1.5 million yuan($214.000).
China Eastern yesterday said it was deeply regretful passengers were inconvenienced and apologized to the society in general. End quote.
Holding for British CAA to implement something similar for events that happened at LHR recently.
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I think the China Eastern Pilots are little unhappy about having to sign a 99 year contract.
http://www.avbuyer.com.cn/e/2008/23136.html
http://www.avbuyer.com.cn/e/2008/23136.html
So the airline pays for the pilot training, but tells them that if they join up then they are going to have to stay with that airline as part of the deal. New private (as in not Gov. owned) airlines fire up operations and need pilots offering double the pay. The guys who signed up for the Gov jobs want to go to the new airlines because they pay better. So in protest they divert their flights back to the departure airport. The Government gets angry because the airlines cant control their pilots and punishes them.
Am i geting the gist of it?
Am i geting the gist of it?
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Surpised?
Not really surprised at the reaction, except for the fact that a couple weren't shot against the hangar wall as a lesson to others.... But then maybe the local provincial governors tart was on their next flight out... 
As someone who spend a few months there I can happily asert that nothing much has really changed in the last 60 odd years.
There might be fancy western brand names on sale downtown. And they may have given a carefully orchestrated impression of humanitarian progress to gain access to foreign technology and skills. Some may even drive locally made obselete VW's, and 99% copied Jap motorbikes - instead of bicycles. Their government's style of brainwashing might even be slightly hipper than it was under Mao, but at the end of the day it is still nothing more than a totalitarian dictatorship, with a slightly hipper rap.
Believe anything else and IMHO you are deluding yourself. The "Peoples" republic has never had much to do with concern for the people... IMHO.
Human rights? Workers Unions? Judicial fairness? Governmental transparency? Yeah right...
As someone who spend a few months there I can happily asert that nothing much has really changed in the last 60 odd years.
There might be fancy western brand names on sale downtown. And they may have given a carefully orchestrated impression of humanitarian progress to gain access to foreign technology and skills. Some may even drive locally made obselete VW's, and 99% copied Jap motorbikes - instead of bicycles. Their government's style of brainwashing might even be slightly hipper than it was under Mao, but at the end of the day it is still nothing more than a totalitarian dictatorship, with a slightly hipper rap.
Believe anything else and IMHO you are deluding yourself. The "Peoples" republic has never had much to do with concern for the people... IMHO.
Human rights? Workers Unions? Judicial fairness? Governmental transparency? Yeah right...
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I suppose those calling this a hijack will be taking their Chinese flags to Canberra to support the Olympic torch.
This is an oppressive regime that sometimes needs creative ways to overcome it.
If you had to live in their society under their conditions would you be an obedient little serf or stand up for yourself and others?
This is an oppressive regime that sometimes needs creative ways to overcome it.
If you had to live in their society under their conditions would you be an obedient little serf or stand up for yourself and others?
