chinese pilots demand pay parity with expats
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chinese pilots demand pay parity with expats
Chinese Pilots Demand Pay Parity with Expats | Aviation International News
More than 100 Air China pilots have signed an open letter to management complaining of unequal treatment between homegrown flight crew and their expatriate counterparts, according to Chinese state-controlled media. The letter, now circulating on the Internet, alleges that foreign pilots enjoy more desirable schedules and routes as well as higher pay, a circumstance attributed to the desperation of airlines in fast expanding air transport markets to fill their cockpits with experienced crewmembers.
Boeing documented China’s personnel challenge in a report last year that estimated the country’s airlines will need some 77,400 cockpit crewmembers through 2032. According to the manufacturer, that figure equates to around 40 percent of the overall requirement across the Asia-Pacific region over the same period.
The letter blames Air China’s “blind expansion” policy for “severe damage” to the Chinese pilots’ physical and mental health, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. It also appears to indicate a growing resentment toward the expatriate pilots by their domestic counterparts. “The arrogance in the bones of white people, plus the 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 reportedly stated.
If, indeed, such preferential treatment of foreign pilots compromises cockpit resource management principles, it would undermine the point of hiring expats to help address safety concerns. In fact, the experience of Air China could prove a valuable lesson for Russian airlines as well, following President Vladimir Putin’s recent passage of a law allowing them to hire foreign pilots in an effort to alleviate a serious shortage there.
The Kremlin’s move to allow more foreign pilots comes in reaction to a 14-percent rate of annual traffic growth among Russian airlines, which already suffer from a reputation for substandard safety.
More than 100 Air China pilots have signed an open letter to management complaining of unequal treatment between homegrown flight crew and their expatriate counterparts, according to Chinese state-controlled media. The letter, now circulating on the Internet, alleges that foreign pilots enjoy more desirable schedules and routes as well as higher pay, a circumstance attributed to the desperation of airlines in fast expanding air transport markets to fill their cockpits with experienced crewmembers.
Boeing documented China’s personnel challenge in a report last year that estimated the country’s airlines will need some 77,400 cockpit crewmembers through 2032. According to the manufacturer, that figure equates to around 40 percent of the overall requirement across the Asia-Pacific region over the same period.
The letter blames Air China’s “blind expansion” policy for “severe damage” to the Chinese pilots’ physical and mental health, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. It also appears to indicate a growing resentment toward the expatriate pilots by their domestic counterparts. “The arrogance in the bones of white people, plus the 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 reportedly stated.
If, indeed, such preferential treatment of foreign pilots compromises cockpit resource management principles, it would undermine the point of hiring expats to help address safety concerns. In fact, the experience of Air China could prove a valuable lesson for Russian airlines as well, following President Vladimir Putin’s recent passage of a law allowing them to hire foreign pilots in an effort to alleviate a serious shortage there.
The Kremlin’s move to allow more foreign pilots comes in reaction to a 14-percent rate of annual traffic growth among Russian airlines, which already suffer from a reputation for substandard safety.
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Surely it will make it a more unpleasant experience to work there too.
All ready with the tough medical and other things it seems to be not so
great right. Just good Money.
All ready with the tough medical and other things it seems to be not so
great right. Just good Money.
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more experience = more pay
I do not see a problem with expats getting paid more in China. Most of the expats are Captains and come with experience. China rarely hires FOs and upgrades them.
It is the law of Economics playing here. More experience=more pay.
CRM and chinese pilots...gimme a break!
It is the law of Economics playing here. More experience=more pay.
CRM and chinese pilots...gimme a break!
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@gcpilot8
I understand that because you are an aviation enthusiast and not a pilot you are missing the point here, there are a lot of experienced Chinese captains that feel they do the same job and in their home soil are being discriminated against. And I tend to agree with them, there is no reason as to why they should earn any less
I understand that because you are an aviation enthusiast and not a pilot you are missing the point here, there are a lot of experienced Chinese captains that feel they do the same job and in their home soil are being discriminated against. And I tend to agree with them, there is no reason as to why they should earn any less
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Discrimination
Its the same story in India. Expats get more with lucrative perks too!
Loyalty is never a bench mark appreciated by managements.
Infact, expats get joining & loyalty bonuses, never locals. Its always a supply & demand game. At least in the middle eastern countries expats & the few locals that fly both, as cabin & cockpit crew, are treated equal when it comes to payments.
Loyalty is never a bench mark appreciated by managements.
Infact, expats get joining & loyalty bonuses, never locals. Its always a supply & demand game. At least in the middle eastern countries expats & the few locals that fly both, as cabin & cockpit crew, are treated equal when it comes to payments.
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I agree that the pay should be the same for the same work but we all know that expats are the first ones to be axed when there is a hiccup.
It may sound unfair at places like Emirates, Turkish and other places that offer permanent position per se; but expats on contractual basis never know when they are shown the door. Look at what happened and what is happening in India regarding expat pilots.
Everything being equal and normal, yes same work should equal to same pay.
When local commanders are not enough, countries have to rely on outside help and thus pay premium according to the demand/supply rule.
Expats are the first ones to be shown the door too!
It may sound unfair at places like Emirates, Turkish and other places that offer permanent position per se; but expats on contractual basis never know when they are shown the door. Look at what happened and what is happening in India regarding expat pilots.Everything being equal and normal, yes same work should equal to same pay.
When local commanders are not enough, countries have to rely on outside help and thus pay premium according to the demand/supply rule.
Expats get more with lucrative perks too!
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Really? Same CRM, same experience, same English (especially China)? You guys must be kidding! 
Just listen to chinese airlines' RT taxying in JFK on youtube, and you will understand where the pay difference comes from. 
On 2nd thought, citizens of 2nd class countries are not allowed to listen in there...
Just listen to chinese airlines' RT taxying in JFK on youtube, and you will understand where the pay difference comes from. On 2nd thought, citizens of 2nd class countries are not allowed to listen in there...
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I don't need to look in YouTube something that I experience regularly, there are 5,500 flights daily in China, you don't think they are all 250 hour pilots do you? I know we like to think we are the only experienced capable pilots out there, but there are a LOT of experienced and proficient pilots in China just like there are many knuckleheads that don't belong on an airplane in the US, the EU and everywhere else! Superiority complex a side, I don't think they deserve any less pay than any expat flying there
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That Air China Youtube fragment is a typical example of bad ATC with a truly arrogant and frankly incompetent controller who is unable to relate to the international climate of the airport he works in.
Unfortunately, standard in a lot of US airports, where they have no clue about standard ICAO phraseology.
Unfortunately, standard in a lot of US airports, where they have no clue about standard ICAO phraseology.
That Air China Youtube fragment is a typical example of bad ATC with a truly arrogant and frankly incompetent controller who is unable to relate to the international climate of the airport he works in.
Unfortunately, standard in a lot of US airports, where they have no clue about standard ICAO phraseology.
Unfortunately, standard in a lot of US airports, where they have no clue about standard ICAO phraseology.
A related but also Inconvenient Truth is that because of cultural biases, CRM and Threat and Error management concepts that have a proven tack record at reducing accidents at Western Airlines, are not being effectively implemented at Chinese airlines. This has resulted in the fact that Chinese Airlines have an accident rate which is significantly worse than Western Airlines.
gcpilot hits the nail on the head - expats get paid more not because they are better ( or worse) than locals - not because they have more or less experience than the locals but because job security is as strong as a thread of cotton!
Some companies lob the expats out with a bit of notice - SIA comes to mind- others - you "fail" the medical and you're on your bike.
Some companies lob the expats out with a bit of notice - SIA comes to mind- others - you "fail" the medical and you're on your bike.
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because job security is as strong as a thread of cotton!
China is paying more because as a base is less attractive than other places and they have a need to attract qualified crew members...! Medicals is an issue yes but so it is in Japan and Korea, it isn't as attractive as other places for families but it all depends on which city and what company you work for, I know many guys that has gone there from the ME and are quite happy. It is as simple as a supply and demand issue. And with all things being equal, I'm all for pay parity for Chinese nationals....!
they have the need, it is their train set, so the locals need to be shown the money as well....!
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Yes, but it was and will always be "locals" that decided that their local pilots will get paid less. It wasn't as if we, the foreign crew, showed up and demanded more than the local pilots. Perhaps they should try setting up a union? 
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Equal pay
When looking at equal pay it always helps to look at apples to apples versus oranges.
Command experience, language skills, premium for compelling someone to move/commute half way around the world, unusual environmental conditions (pollution), all are reasons for paying a premium, the same applies to guys who leave Wall Street to work in their investment banks Shanghai branch.
Expat pilots earn raw salary, no medical, retirement benefits, company funded cadet program, pay while medically grounded, in case of big 3 union membership, bonuses and incentive schemes and in the case of Spring only a 10% pay differential. Hardly cause for mental and emotional stress. Perhaps they need to start administering psychometric test
Command experience, language skills, premium for compelling someone to move/commute half way around the world, unusual environmental conditions (pollution), all are reasons for paying a premium, the same applies to guys who leave Wall Street to work in their investment banks Shanghai branch.
Expat pilots earn raw salary, no medical, retirement benefits, company funded cadet program, pay while medically grounded, in case of big 3 union membership, bonuses and incentive schemes and in the case of Spring only a 10% pay differential. Hardly cause for mental and emotional stress. Perhaps they need to start administering psychometric test
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On the subject of US ATC, I was on descent into Narita this morning, to which I heard FedEx talk to Approach:
FedEX " Approach, Yall want us to keep on truckin!?"
Approach: .... Silence
FedEX " Approach, Yall want us to keep on truckin!?"
Approach: .... Silence
