Airline recruiting school students to train as pilots
Print Edition
CHINA Eastern Airlines is intensifying its efforts on recruiting high school talent as it tries to address long-term projections of pilot shortages in China.
The Shanghai-based carrier plans to recruit 100 third-year local boys for enrollment in 10-year programs at aviation colleges.
“We are recruiting more high school students this year because of an increasing need for pilots as we expand our fleet,” said Hao Tiecheng, a human resources official with the airline.
A rapid increase in airline travel in China has created huge demand for pilots. According to US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co, Chinese airlines will need at least 100,000 additional pilots and 106,000 aircraft mechanics by 2034.
China requires about 5,000 new pilots every year, but domestic flight training schools supply only 2,000. The gap is filled by foreign pilots.
Domestic civil airlines traditionally recruited pilots from the nation’s seven professional flight academies. The Civil Aviation Flight University of China, based in Sichuan Province, is the largest, providing 90 percent of civilian pilots.
China Eastern said it will expand talent scouting at universities across China, with a focus on students who show high scholastic skills, the ability to think logically and fluency in English.
According to China Eastern, 40 of the high school students recruited in Shanghai will be sent to the Civil Aviation Flight University, while the others will study at the Shanghai University of Engineering Science. They will receive further training with the airline after graduation, Hao said.
Candidates must be between 16 and 20 years old and meet height and eyesight requirements. They must also pass the national college entrance exam, health and psychological assessments, and English fluency because that is the global language of air traffic controllers.
Candidates are further vetted by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. If selected, they are asked to sign an agreement that they will work for the sponsoring carrier when the training is completed.
Stable, promising job
Wu Yiping, a senior at Jiguang Senior High School in the Hongkou District, is among those applying this year for the pilot career program. He was encouraged to do so by his father.
“I think being a pilot is a stable, promising job with a decent salary,” Wu’s father told Shanghai Daily. “It’s hard to find ideal jobs nowadays.”
The annual salary for a deputy pilot is at least 400,000 yuan (US$63,000) on average, while a captain can earn in the range of 1 million yuan with domestic airlines.
Air China, for one, has recruited 64 pilot-training candidates from 13 Chinese universities so far this year. Competition for senior captains is fierce, with poaching a common but contentious practice.
“Airlines try to woo captains from competitors by offering higher salaries, and employers spare no effort to retain their senior pilots,” a flight captain who asked to remain anonymous told Shanghai Daily.
Chinese airlines have long relied on foreign pilots to fill demand, but that costs the carriers more than hiring domestically. Six Shanghai-based airlines, including China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines, Juneyao and Spring Airlines, employ more than 200 foreign pilots.
Spring Airlines now has more than 70 foreign pilots.
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