由于中國缺乏經驗豐富的飛行員，為中國航空公司執飛波音飛機的外籍飛行員原來可以拿30萬美元年薪，外加補貼，并且還能在多份工作中挑挑揀揀。然而，波音737 Max機型的停飛卻改變了這一局面。

據招聘機構稱，中國的各個航空公司已經基本停止招聘執飛波音主要窄體客機型號的外國飛行員，原因是9個月前，最暢銷的波音737 Max客機發生了兩起墜機事故，導致該機型停飛。在中國蓬勃發展的航空市場上，中國各大航空公司一直最熱衷于購買這款飛機的買家之一，占全球機隊的20%（目前已經閑置）。

中國航空公司支付的工資仍然高于市場價格，但漫長的停飛讓一大批原本拿數倍于美國商業飛行員平均工資的職位受到了沖擊。全球兩起致命的墜機事件后，Max機型的復飛還沒有明確的時間，中國公司對737系列外籍飛行員的需求已經大幅放緩。目前，中國只有少數航空公司在招聘此類職位。

總部位于蒙特利爾的飛行員招聘機構AeroPersonnel Global Inc.的創始人兼總裁安德烈·阿拉德表示：“中國航空公司已經暫停招募737的飛行員。句號。”該公司自2007年起在中國開展業務。他說：“這些航空公司中有許多原本都下了Max的訂單。現在的情形顯然改變了他們的計劃。”

中國不斷壯大的中產階級讓中國在未來十年將成為全球最大的航空市場。對于許多國內航空公司來說，737這樣的短途飛機是旅游熱潮中的首選。但長期以來，中國一直難以依靠自己的力量培養出足夠多的飛行員：截至2016年年底，中國航空公司的駕駛艙中有1000多名外國人，是2010年的兩倍。

對外籍737飛行員需求的下降，讓世界上薪酬最高的飛行工作（這些工作還附帶一系列福利，如簽約獎金、教育津貼和免費飛行）大量落到了在中國試水的外籍空客機長的手中。

三重沖擊

波音公司在兩起導致346人死亡的災難事故后受到密切關注。去年10月，獅航（Lion Air）的一架航班從雅加達起飛后不久就墜入大海，今年3月，埃塞俄比亞航空公司（Ethiopian Airlines）的一架飛機在亞的斯亞貝巴附近墜毀。

Max的悲劇并非唯一原因。中國經濟正在放緩，與美國的貿易爭端已經進入第二年。作為一家美國航空制造商，位于芝加哥的波音公司處于這場爭議的中心。

中國是首個禁飛Max機型的大國。3月以來，Max飛機一直被禁飛，波音一直試圖修復該機型的飛行控制系統——兩起空難都與此有關。美國航空監管機構在12月表示，要到2020年才能夠完成所需的審批手續。即便那時，Max可能也要花上幾個月的時間才可以交付給航空公司；歐洲廉價航空公司瑞安航空（Ryanair Holdings Plc）在5月前都不指望能夠收到貨。

招聘公司Wasinc International說，波音公司危機的蔓延已經改變了中國飛行員的命運。公司總裁戴夫·羅斯說，該公司合作的28家中國航空公司中，只有七八家真的在招飛行員。

羅斯在拉斯維加斯接受電話采訪時說：“由于Max的停飛，大多數航空公司都人手過剩。”只有一兩家公司對737飛行員感興趣。

波音發言人拒絕就中國對外籍737飛行員的需求狀況置評。在中國三大航空公司中，中國東方航空公司拒絕置評，中國國際航空公司和中國南方航空公司沒有回復置評請求。

Wasinc的網站表示，東方航空旗下的廉航中國聯合航空仍然在招募飛行員，該公司為737機長提供每年28.8萬美元的年薪，簽署三年期合同。但這是該網站7月以來首次發布中國公司招聘737飛行員的廣告。薪酬還包括為孩子在中國學校就讀提供每月1000美元的教育津貼。

在Max得到監管機構批準、波音恢復交付之前，這種職位荒不太可能結束。據一位知情人士透露，波音還在考慮暫停生產Max。波音公司網站上的數據顯示，中國買家迄今已經收到76架這種飛機，還有181架未交付。

雖然中國市場對737飛行員的需求沒有那么迫切，但對空客機長的需求卻有增無減。“招聘需求唯一沒有太大變化的航空公司是A320的運營商。”羅斯說。

稅后31.1萬美元

例如，上海的吉祥航空為年齡在30至53歲之間的A320機長提供29.9萬美元的年薪。根據Wasinc的數據，該職位僅要求平均每周飛行14小時，包括50天的帶薪假期和每月666美元的海外就業津貼。第二個任期內的稅后年薪能夠達到31.1萬美元。

仍然在招聘的中國航空公司越來越挑剔，廣州（位于香港西北部）的飛行員個體代理商托尼·劉說。特別是，飛行員一旦在飛行評估中出現了錯誤，會非常不被看好。

“如果你真的想在這里工作，必須做好充分準備。”劉說，“如果你在模擬器上犯了些錯誤，他們會非常嚴格。”

中國也在尋求減少對外國人的依賴。根據中國民航局的數據，截至2018年年底，中國持有商業飛行員執照的人數為61492人。這比2014年的水平高出54%，但仍然不夠。據波音公司稱，未來20年，中國將需要8090架新飛機，其中大部分是單通道飛機——在這個機型上，波音737和空客A320系列競爭激烈。

波音公司稱，中國將需要新招12.4萬名飛行員來駕駛這些飛機。這相當于在20年的時間里，每周招聘119名新員工。

Expatriate pilots flying Boeing Co.’s most popular plane for Chinese airlines used to be able to take their pick from dozens of jobs paying $300,000 plus perks thanks to a shortage of experienced aviators there. The grounding of the 737 Max has changed that.

Chinese carriers have largely stopped hiring foreign pilots for Boeing’s main narrow-bodied jet, nine months after two crashes led to the grounding of the best-selling 737 Max, according to recruitment agencies. Airlines in China’s booming aviation market had been among the most enthusiastic buyers of the plane, accounting for 20% of a global fleet that now sits idle.

Chinese airlines still pay above-market wages but the lengthy grounding has hit a swath of roles paying multiple times the median salary of a commercial pilot in the U.S. With no clear time-line for the Max’s reinstatement after two lethal crashes, demand for expat pilots of any 737 variant in China has slowed to a trickle. Only a handful of the country’s airlines are recruiting for such jobs now.

“We’ve seen airlines suspend recruitment of 737 pilots, period,” said Andre Allard, founder and president of AeroPersonnel Global Inc., a Montreal-based pilot-recruitment agency that has worked in China since 2007. “Many of these airlines had the Max on order. That evidently changed their plans.”

China’s growing middle class has put the country on track to be the world’s biggest aviation market in the coming next decade. For many local airlines, short-haul workhorses like the 737 became the aircraft of choice in the travel frenzy. But China has long struggled to produce enough pilots on its own: By the end of 2016, Chinese carriers had more than 1,000 foreigners in their cockpits, double the number in 2010.

The decline in demand for overseas 737 pilots leaves many of the world’s best-paid flying jobs, which come with a suite of perks such as signing bonuses, education allowances and free flights, to foreign Airbus SE skippers who try their hand in China.

Triple Whammy

Boeing is under intense scrutiny following the two disasters that killed 346 people. In October last year, a Lion Air flight plunged into the sea shortly after taking off from Jakarta, and in March an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed near Addis Ababa.

It’s not just those Max tragedies weighing on the sector. China’s economy is slowing, and the country is locked in a trade war with the U.S. that’s into its second year. As an American aerospace manufacturer, Chicago-based Boeing has found itself in the middle of the dispute.

China was the first major jurisdiction to ground the Max plane, which has been banned from flying since March as Boeing tries to fix a flight-control system implicated in both crashes. The U.S. aviation regulator said in December it won’t complete the aircraft’s required approvals until 2020. Even then, the Max could take months to reach airlines: European low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings Plc doesn’t expect deliveries before May.

Recruiter Wasinc International says the crisis at Boeing has spread to change the fortunes of aviators in China. Only seven or eight of the 28 Chinese airlines on Wasinc’s books are actually hiring pilots, said the company’s president, Dave Ross.

“Most of them are overstaffed because of the grounding of the Max,” Ross said by phone from Las Vegas. Just one or two are interested in 737 pilots, he said.

A Boeing spokesman declined to comment on demand for foreign 737 pilots in China. Of the country’s big three carriers, China Eastern Airlines Co. declined to comment, while Air China Ltd. and China Southern Airlines Co. didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Low-cost carrier China United Airlines, a unit of China Eastern, is still in the market for pilots, offering $288,000 a year to 737 captains on three-year contracts, according to Wasinc’s website. But that’s the site’s first ad for 737 pilots in China since July. The package includes a monthly education allowance of $1,000 for children in Chinese schools.

The drought’s unlikely to end until the Max is cleared by regulators and Boeing can resume deliveries. Boeing is also considering temporarily halting production of the Max, according to a person familiar with the matter. Chinese buyers have received 76 of the jets so far, and are due to receive 181 more, according to data on Boeing’s website.

While there’s less immediate need for 737 pilots in China, appetite for Airbus captains is unabated. “The only airlines hiring without much change are A320 operators,” said Ross.

$311,000 After Tax

For example, Juneyao Airlines in Shanghai is offering $299,000 a year to A320 captains aged between 30 and 53. The role demands an average of just 14 hours flying a week and includes 50 days of paid leave and an overseas employment allowance of $666 a month, according to Wasinc. The pay climbs to $311,000 — after tax — a year in the second term.

The Chinese airlines that are still hiring are getting more picky, said Tony Liu, a self-employed pilot agent based in Guangzhou, northwest of Hong Kong. In particular, they take a dim view of errors during flight assessments, he said.

“If you really want to work here, you have to prepare pretty good,” said Liu. “If you make some mistake in the simulator, they will be very strict.”

China has also sought to lean less on foreigners. The number of Chinese licensed commercial pilots was 61,492 at the end of 2018, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. That’s up 54% from 2014 levels, but it’s still not enough. According to Boeing, China will need 8,090 new airplanes over the next 20 years, the bulk of them single-aisle aircraft — a category where Boeing’s 737 competes with Airbus’s A320 family of planes.

To fly them all, China will require another 124,000 pilots, Boeing says. That’s the equivalent of 119 new hires every week for two decades.

AeroPersonnel的阿拉德說，總的來說，海外飛行員在中國飛行五年后，仍然有可能帶著100萬美元的存款回家。他說，只是空客的機長現在更受歡迎。

“Max機型存在巨大的不確定性。”阿拉德說，“這事似乎沒完了。”（財富中文網）

譯者：Agatha

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All told, it’s still possible for overseas pilots to head home with $1 million in the bank after five years of flying in China, said Allard at AeroPersonnel. It’s just that Airbus captains are more in favor now, he said.

“There is huge uncertainty about the Max,” Allard said. “It seems this thing is going on and on and on.”