Chinese Pilot Shortage
Does China's legal system have strong clout and authority? Perhaps it was an article in "the New York Times", or in the magazine "the Economist". A Chinese lady was quoted saying that the PRC has no actual 'rule of law'.
If this is accurate, then what good is a contract, or regulations?
The writer of an article several years ago in "Business Week" magazine about the growth of Chinese airlines claimed that many B-737 pilots flew 120 or more hours per month.
Admittedly I know almost nothing about the PRC.
If this is accurate, then what good is a contract, or regulations?
The writer of an article several years ago in "Business Week" magazine about the growth of Chinese airlines claimed that many B-737 pilots flew 120 or more hours per month.
Admittedly I know almost nothing about the PRC.
Last edited by Ignition Override; 23rd Nov 2006 at 08:51.
Chinese Pilot Shortage
Ignition Overide is right about the shortage of pilot in China. Currently I know of about 200 foreign captains flying for Chinese airlines. It is not uncommon to hear a foreign voice using English operating a Chinese airliner. They are from everywhere, the Far East, Europe and the Americas. On arrival they are permitted to fly for a short time on a validation of their foreign licence and then they have to get a Chinese one. This is the usual air law exams etc but you also have to do the CAAC English Proficiency and RT Test. This is the exam that Chinese pilots need to pass to go international and you need it as well. The fact that you may be English and flying for donkey's years doesn't matter. Non English foreign pilots fail it regularly. One of the limitations of a foreigner's Chinese licence is that he is not allowed to use the Chinese language whilst operating the aircraft.
Contracts, in my case, are witten in both English and Chinese and the English version is the master copy. They tend to be followed very rigidly by your employers, if it's not written in its your problem. Medicals are slightly different, to put it mildly, but apart from that the rules and regs are much the same as in the West. There are lots and lots of horror stories about flying in China but most of that is in the past. 100hrs/month is the limit and they tend to hit that because of the shortage. Chinese Aviation has had a massive shakeup in the last decade and its a fascinating country to work in. I love it, I'v been working here for some time.
Contracts, in my case, are witten in both English and Chinese and the English version is the master copy. They tend to be followed very rigidly by your employers, if it's not written in its your problem. Medicals are slightly different, to put it mildly, but apart from that the rules and regs are much the same as in the West. There are lots and lots of horror stories about flying in China but most of that is in the past. 100hrs/month is the limit and they tend to hit that because of the shortage. Chinese Aviation has had a massive shakeup in the last decade and its a fascinating country to work in. I love it, I'v been working here for some time.
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Age Limit
Hi Far East Driver. I am with KA in Hong Kong and am surprised to see that your age is 66. I just wondered if you could tell me the mainland rules regarding age.
Thanks
D.B.er
Thanks
D.B.er
Chinese age limits.
I'll add on to my last reply. There is no cut-off on age but the decisions are made by CAAC. In my case I had been working there for some time and the company lobbied for me to continue. Grandfather rights maybe? The chances of anybody approaching the age of 60 getting a job with a Chinese aviation company would be zero. Because of ICAO I can only fly nationally which in my job is not a problem. As a guide to the number and nationality of foreign pilots you can look into the CAAC website that gives you a list of applicants in the last six months.
You can't get the right one by typing the address as the home page is in Chinese, you wont find the right page and western computers don't have a Chinese font.
Use the Google search engine and type in pilots.caac.gov.cn. The 1st result will hopefully give you a page with blue borders and a list of contents with a counter on the left hand side. Go to the fourth block and select line 6. This will open up a long list of names of people who are already flying in China and are going through the process of obtaining their Chinese licences after passing the exams. The green names means that their overseas credentials are satisfactory and the licence is being or has been issued. The blacks are pending and the reds are those who have cocked up the paperwork. If you are lucky you may have the version of google that will translate it or you can print it and get the local takeaway to translate the countries for you. I've only ever found it the first time using google.
Don't ask me how to get a job here. I don't know, I came in a different way.
You can't get the right one by typing the address as the home page is in Chinese, you wont find the right page and western computers don't have a Chinese font.
Use the Google search engine and type in pilots.caac.gov.cn. The 1st result will hopefully give you a page with blue borders and a list of contents with a counter on the left hand side. Go to the fourth block and select line 6. This will open up a long list of names of people who are already flying in China and are going through the process of obtaining their Chinese licences after passing the exams. The green names means that their overseas credentials are satisfactory and the licence is being or has been issued. The blacks are pending and the reds are those who have cocked up the paperwork. If you are lucky you may have the version of google that will translate it or you can print it and get the local takeaway to translate the countries for you. I've only ever found it the first time using google.
Don't ask me how to get a job here. I don't know, I came in a different way.
aka Capt PPRuNe
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The url for the pilot list mentioned above is: http://pilots.caac.gov.cn/fp/foreignpilotlist.asp
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i find the age issue very interesting. i recently,28 oct 06, sent my cv to cathay. received a letter yesterday saying that i was too old to apply as the retirement age is 55yrs. i will be 54 next year.applied for fe position not captain or fo. is this correct?
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Flight Training
Dear All
would just kindly like to ask for some advice. I currently have a JAA PPL and approximately 160 hours TT. If all the jobs are in china?, would you reccommend me to train in china or stay in UK to do the rest of the course?. I am a British born chinese, so I would like to work in china, but just wondering what would be the best route for the future?. Thanks everyone, would like to hear from you all.
Brian304
would just kindly like to ask for some advice. I currently have a JAA PPL and approximately 160 hours TT. If all the jobs are in china?, would you reccommend me to train in china or stay in UK to do the rest of the course?. I am a British born chinese, so I would like to work in china, but just wondering what would be the best route for the future?. Thanks everyone, would like to hear from you all.
Brian304
