时间：2022-08-28 12:52:26
A fight against the same work with different pay is going on inside Air China， one of the largest airlines in China.
In the middle April， a group of pilots driving Airbus 330 for Air China collectively sent a letter to the executives of all levels and board of directors of Air China， requesting Air China to “stop the destructive use of pilots” and asking for the “same payment with foreign pilots for the same workload”.
This open letter further revealed the contradictions between pilots and airlines in China when there is a shortage of pilots in this country.
The problem is always there， but there was no smooth channel to show the opinions in the past， causing the problem to flock together，” said a captain of an A330 plane of Air China. Soon after the publication of the open letter， more and more pilots joined in the ranks as supporters. Six major teams of the company， including those driving Boeing 777 the most important fleets of Air China also signed on this letter.
Same Work， Different Pay
This open letter was drafted by the No. 1 Fleet of Air China’s General Flight Fleet. In the letter， the pilots said that the frontline workers of Air China were always at a disadvantage in the dialogue with the company. The pilots’appeals and requests have not been well responded and respected for a long time.
The first request listed in the open letter is to ask the company’s management team to restore and regularize the wellness and vacation system for the pilots to stop the destructive use of the pilots.
“For years， the company ignored the scientific rules of flight activities and human’s health during the massive development and expansion. They blindly increased the number of flights at the cost of the time necessary for pilots’ rest and wellness. This stripped the frontline pilots of the reasonable rest and recuperation， causing the drastic fall in the wellness of the entire pilot team. Dozens of middle-aged or even younger pilots suffered cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure earlier than non-pilots because of the long-time flight fatigue. The incidents of grounding of aircraft and the bad results of physical examination increased year by year.”
The pilots asked for at least seven days for rest in a month， and 21 days for recuperation and vacation in one year. The total flight hours in a year should be not more than 850 hours.
It is known that the Civil Aviation Administration of China has clear stipulations about the fight hours of the pilots. Any airlines that violate the stipulations should be fined. The request of pilots from Air China this time was not a result of Air China’s violation. It was more related to the fact that the payment per flight hour for Air China’s pilots is lower than other airline companies.
The pilots of Air China are less paid compared with their peers at other airlines. The unfairness could also be found inside Air China since domestic pilots earn less than the foreign pilots recruited by Air China. In the open let- ter， the pilots complained that Air China give out much better offers to foreign pilots than it gave to Chinese pilots. The foreigners are given more rest time， easier flights and better salaries. The superiority of foreign employees and the unfair salaries caused the tense relationship between Chinese and foreign pilots.
“Airlines’ employing foreign pilots are different from football clubs’ inviting foreign players. They are not better than us in the flight skills. They could not improve the quality of the entire pilot team. In these years， Air China recruited a lot of foreign vice captains that drive planes under the command of Chinese captains. The payroll should depend on the workload instead of nationality. We require the same pay for the same work with foreign pilots，” the pilots said in the open letter.
The pilots also required Air China to maximally respect the pilots’ freedom to choose their careers， relax restrictions on employees’ resgination and fulfill the effective judgment by the court.
Early in September 2013， hundreds of pilots from several airline companies in China sent a letter to the Civil Aviation Administration， calling for the industrial rules that clash with the current laws and limit pilots’ resignation. The pilots wanted a new and reasonable guiding opinion towards the expense return for pilots. The administrative body and related association gave out positive response to this letter. They sent representatives to pilots to talk about the difficulty of pilots in “changing jobs’， hoping to provide solutions.
However， even though the government admitted that airlines’ rules were unreasonable， they did not take substantial measures to force airlines make changes. The solutions were not found and the problems were not solved， which was an important reason for the open letter of this time.
Disputes in Air China
Several days before the open letter from Air China， the labor union of pilots of Shenzhen Airlines， also sent out an open letter， stating their requests of being paid equally with foreign pilots and other airlines， disclosing the detailed accounts of houses built for employees’welfare， how the money is spent and the list of buyers of these houses so all the employees can see to the legality of these cases to avoid embezzlement， corruption， capital misuse and other crimes. They also required setting up an independent supervision and monitoring organization to accept and handle the complaints and suggestions of pilots.
Shenzhen Airlines is also a subsid-iary company controlled by Air China.
An expert in the aviation industry said that Air China， headquartered in Beijing， enjoyed the highest yield among the top three state-owned airlines in China. In these years， it extends its arms to the whole country through the acquisition of Shenzhen Airlines. However， the company is very“stingy” when it comes to the human resource and employment payment.
Pilots are usually considered to be greatly paid by ordinary people. However， the payrolls vary greatly to airlines. For example， a captain of a state-owned airline could earn 40-50 thousand yuan per month after paying the tax and various funds， but some private airlines are willing to double the pay to have these experienced pilots work for them. Some newly-founded firms even offers the monthly salary of 120-150 thousand yuan.
A captain from Air China said that the base pay of pilots of Air China is the highest among all airlines in China. However， their flight hour-based payment， which takes the biggest part of their salaries， is very small. Most of the regional airlines and private companies provide lower base wage but their pilots could earn a lot from their flight hours and the mile-based bonus. When all parts are put together， the pilots of Air China are still the lowest paid. For example， the captain of Hainan Airlines could earn 1 million yuan per year （after tax）； the captain of Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines that drive the same plane for the same course could earn 1.3 mil- lion yuan per year. In comparison， the captain from Air China could only earn 600 thousand yuan per year.
“It takes a lot of human resource， materials and time to train a pilot. If they can leave easily， the company will suffer a great loss，” said an executive of a state-owned airline. For the Chinese civil flight market that is developing very quickly， the experienced pilots are greatly needed. In these years， the government allowed private investors to found airlines. Most of these companies have a lot of money to buy planes， but they have no time to train their own pilots. Therefore， they need to headhunt pilots from state-owned companies， which are not willing to lose their pilots. This caused a new problem： on one hand， there are more than 200 pilots in China that cannot drive a plane because of their stagnant resignation； on the other hand， the airlines need to recruit foreign pilots with high salaries to fill the gap.
Several captains also said that they signed on the open letter for not only the salary. They were not pleased by the company’s management， performance review and culture.
One of them has submitted the letter of resignation. He said that Air China was commanding over 30 planes in Chongqing， but threw half of its transportation capacity in Beijing. From years ago， he， a local of Chongqing， needed to go to Beijing to fly planes on a monthly basis. He had to spend half of his time in a month out of Chongqing， making his own home more like a hotel. The company paid no attention to his predicament and showed no signs of changing. This made him feel hopeless and decide to give up his position in Air China.
“The company keeps a tyrannical management pattern over pilots. We have to endure the worst payment， slowest promotion and most frequent meetings，” said the captain. The company needs to shift its way of management and stop thinking itself as a father or authority. More human and legal factors need to be integrated into the management. This is the best solution to keeping the talents.