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Ma Jianzhong, a 36-year-old pilot with Air China Zhejiang Company, became a father two months ago. But along with his colleague Zhong Jianfeng, Ma handed in his resignation at the end of last year. Dissatisfied with their decision to resign, the airline claimed compensation of 3.4 million yuan (US$425,000) and 3.89 million yuan (US$486,250) from Ma and Zhong respectively, arguing that it had spent a considerable amount of money training the pilots.

 

The provincial labor arbitration commission recently voiced their support for the pilots' decision, but requested them to pay 1.96 million yuan (US$245,000) each to the company.

 

As neither side was satisfied with the ruling, "this case has been transferred to the Xiaoshan District People's Court," Ma said in an interview with Guangzhou Daily on July 7.

 

Having just concluded a one-day negotiation with the airline, Ma told the paper: "If an agreement is reached, both sides will drop the lawsuit; otherwise judicial proceedings will continue."

 

Many people don't understand why Ma, with an annual salary of over 300,000 yuan (US$37,500), should have decided to resign.

 

Born to a rural family in Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province, Ma enrolled himself in the Air Force at 18 and became a bomber pilot. After he was demobilized, he was recruited by China Zhejiang Airlines (predecessor to Air China Zhejiang Company) and was promoted 10 years later to captain of an A320.

 

"Material benefits are not the main reason for my resignation," Ma said, "although it is hard to say if pilots in the mainland are actually paid attractive salaries."

 

"For instance, the yearly pay of a captain from Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific or Dragonair, which was taken over by Cathay this June, is roughly HK$3 million (US$386,100), while the monthly earnings of a captain from Vietnam Airlines hit US$10,000."

 

In 2004, the General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) began to issue national flying licenses, hoping to encourage the recruitment of pilots. "Before that, what we had were regional licenses, which made trans-regional mobility impossible," Ma recalled.

 

China's first private airline, the Tianjin-based Okay Airways started its maiden flight on March 11, 2005, breaking the government monopoly in the civil aviation sector. Since then, a dozen other private airlines have entered the market, luring about 80 pilots from state-run airlines, according to a well-informed source. But that figure accounts for less than 0.7 percent of the country's 12,000 pilots.

 

With the government monopoly broken and competition opening up, more foreign-funded airlines will enter the market. This will mean that even more pilots will be making the lateral move.

 

"This trend is irreversible," Ma said.

 

Civil aviation experts have suggested that state-run airlines carry out radical structural reforms to cope with the situation.

 

However, not a single pilot to date has been able to resign smoothly. Instead of a peaceful "goodbye," they have had to deal with long drawn-out procedures that involve indemnity claims, labor arbitration and lawsuits.

 

In October 2004, three pilots resigned from Air China Southwest Company, and the airline demanded compensation of 18 million yuan (US$2.25 million) in total from them.

 

Two pilots resigned in July 2004 from China Eastern Jiangsu Co Ltd, and were each requested by the court to pay their company 1 million yuan (US$125,000).

 

A pilot surnamed Yang from China Eastern Northwest Company handed in his resignation this January, but the airline has made a claim for 12 million yuan (US$1.5 million).

 

In addition, a dispute between labor and management sparked by the group resignation of seven pilots last September from China Eastern Qingdao Company remains unsettled.

 

Actually, according to Ma, a strong air of the planned economy continues to linger in the administration of state-owned airlines including personnel management, employee assessment and evaluation, and marketing strategy.

 

Many airlines are unwieldy in structure and have more workers than are needed, Ma said. For instance, the personnel-plane ratio is 200-300:1 in Air China Zhejiang Company, and 300-400:1 in the majority of other state-owned companies, but just 80:1 in the privately run Shenzhen Airlines.

 

"We have too many administrative staff," Ma said.

 

Citing cost-saving efforts to make his point, Ma said the higher an A320 flies, the more oil it consumes. Flying an average of 900 hours a year, an experienced pilot can save the company up to 600 tons of oil.

 

"Disappointingly though, as a rule, yearend bonuses for energy saving are split 80:20; 80 percent to the company, and 20 percent to the flight crew."

 

This bonus system was laid down by the office staff, who would of course put their own interests first, Ma continued. "The current situation in my company explains a lot: the frontline pilots want to leave, while ground servicemen and administrative staff are trying desperately to get hired."

 

Viewed by many as a high-salary class, actually "we are piloting the planes at the risk of our health," said Ma who has clocked a total 8,000 flying hours.

 

The high-altitude environment with the noise, ultraviolet radiation and chronic weight loss all seriously disrupt a pilot's immunity system, Ma said.

 

"Among all the retired pilots in east China's Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces and Shanghai Municipality, no one has lived more than 67 years so far," Ma said. "Not long ago, a 55-year-old captain died from an illness. It was only half a year after he retired.

 

"I bought a life and accident insurance policy that costs a total of 37,000 yuan (US$4,625) per year. Not many pilots buy insurance for themselves. However, as far as I know, in the Baotou air crash (that happened in Inner Mongolia on November 21, 2004), the compensation the captain's family got from the airline was less than half of what passengers received."

 

(China.org.cn by Shao Da, July 17, 2006)