中国航空业招募外国飞行员

China's civil aviation industry is flourishing. In the last five years, the annual increase of business volume averaged more than 15 percent, making China the second-largest aviation country in terms of transport volume.

The thriving industry here has become an exciting attraction for foreign pilots, especially Europeans who feel the aggravating stress of the ongoing debt crisis. Spanish captain Alejandro now works for Spring Airlines in China.

"I was flying for the same company, Spanair, for 20 years. And I left Spanair in 2010, two years before it shut down. It's been one of the many airlines in Europe that have gone bankrupt. Luckily, I had the chance to come to China before it happened."

Alejandro is not alone. At Spring Airlines, he met his former colleague, Captain Alberto.

"Spain has been especially affected by the debt crisis. In our specific business in the Asian region[?], we have over one-thousand pilots who are working overseas."

Forty foreign pilots make up 10 percent of Spring Airlines' staff.

Many Chinese airlines are extending a welcome to foreign pilots and promising them better treatment than their Chinese staff receives. For Spring Airlines, the average monthly salary is 16-thousand to 17-thousand US dollars with a year-end bonus based on the number of years the foreign employees have served. That's almost twice the amount that Chinese employees are paid. But Chief Pilot Shen Wei says the deal is worth it, because pilot training demands sizeable investment, yet doesn't help address the problem at hand.

"We expect a serious shortage of captains by 2014. We buy six to seven airplanes each year, and that means we need 30-40 extra captains each year."

The need for pilots runs throughout the industry. Currently, there are altogether more than 20-thousand pilots in China, and the expansion of business volume demands an increase of three-thousand more every year. However, the training facilities in China can only accommodate an annual increase of two-thousand pilots. In this case, it seems a wise choice to go headhunting in Europe where professionals like Alejandro are beginning to worry about their career.

"When I left Spanair, they had 550 pilots. After it went out of business, most of them went to the Middle East. Only a few came here to China. But more and more are going to come in the future, I think."

For CRI, I'm Laiming.