Regional Round-Up
Mainland pilots allege airline safety threatened
May 1st 2014
Air China has verified reports circulating via social media that more than one hundred of the carrier’s pilots claim overwork and underpay of cockpit crew is undermining the airline’s safety. Read More » The open letter alleged most pilots were not given enough rest because of the company’s pace of expansion. The work regime was damaging the physical and mental health of cockpit crews, the letter declared. The authors also claimed foreign pilots employed by Air China had “longer rest, easier routes and higher pay”.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported the pilots wrote that “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”.
Beijing-based Air China, the nation’s flag carrier, said the complaints “were being dealt with properly to ensure passenger safety”.
Separately, Air China said last month that its first quarter profit, to March 31, could decline by as much as 65% due to foreign exchange losses. China’s largest airline, China Southern Airlines, has calculated it has lost up to US$50 million for the same months, also because of a decline in value of the yuan, China’s currency.
