In the coming 20 years Chinese companies will recruit 100 pilots every week – mass-media

Almaty. August 19. Silkroadnews – In the coming 20 years Chinese companies will recruit 100 pilots every week to meet the needs of Chinese airlines, «People's Daily» reports with reference to Bloomberg.

In the next 20 years the airlines expect 4 times increase in volume of air traffic. Over the past 5 years the number of Chinese airlines rose by 28%, i.e. 55 companies. All the companies plan to add a number of flights, and, indeed, need more pilots. Due to the deficit of pilots in China, airlines try to attract experienced pilots from other countries.

The article says, a former pilot of United Airlines Giacomo Palombo receives invitations from Chinese airlines every week. «Qingdao» Airline offered an annual salary of $318 thousand, «Sichuan» airline offers $302 thousand, both companies note these are net of taxes amounts. Average salary of pilots throughout the U.S. stands at $209 thousand per year, the publication notes.

In addition to high salaries, these companies promise such financial rewards as free travels to visit relatives, overtime shifts payment, bonuses, etc.

Meanwhile, Richard Laig, Mango Aviation Partners Ltd. Consultancy, believes there are few foreign pilots interested to work in China, as China lags behind with the level of comfort.

At present there are more than 30 thousand pilots working at the Chinese airlines, including 2200 foreigners, mostly from Kazakhstan, U.S. and Mexico, the agency states.