BEIJING, April 4 -- Pilots' alleged disputes with their employers are again in the spotlight after media quoted pilots as saying they turned departing flights around midway, returning to the boarding airport to show discontent with airlines.
The Yunnan Info Daily on Wednesday quoted an unnamed pilot as saying 17 China Eastern flights departing from Kunming airport returned to the city after takeoff on Monday and Tuesday for reasons other than "weather conditions" - the explanation given by the carrier.
The pilot said the moves were to show discontent with their employer over treatment and pay.
The return of the flights left at least 1,500 passengers stranded in Kunming airport. Some passengers said they would sue the airline for "commercial fraud", Guangzhou Daily reported on Wednesday.
This is the third incident in a month related to the disputes.
More than 40 Shanghai Airlines pilots asked for "sick leave" on March 14, while 11 East Star Airlines pilots "took a holiday" last Friday.
China Daily was unable to reach China Eastern for comment yesterday.
Some experts chastised pilots for "lacking professional ethics" in the latest incident.
"The pilots' legitimate rights should be protected, but not through such improper means," an aviation legal expert, who only gave his surname, Liu, told China Daily yesterday.
"They disregarded passengers' interests, wasted fuel and jeopardized flight safety," he said.
This week's incidents caught the attention of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC).
In an emergency meeting, the CAAC said the pilot leading the move could face a lifelong ban on piloting, Beijing Times reported yesterday.
The CAAC also asked China Eastern to settle the dispute as soon as possible to guarantee flight safety.
All-day negotiations between the airline and pilots on Wednesday ended in vain, the Beijing Times reported.
The newspaper quoted insiders as saying the root of problem lies in a national shortage of pilots, especially captains.
The CAAC estimated at least 6,500 more pilots are needed by 2010, but only 600 to 800 are trained every year.
(Source: chinadaily.com.cn)
