BEIJING Chinese airlines are undertaking the biggest hiring drives in more than three years, as travel rebounds are facing a deluge of applicants for cabin crew positions as fresh university graduates look for a relatively high-paying career in a bleak job market.
In contrast to Western countries where cabin crew positions are relatively low-paid and usually do not require a university degree, becoming a flight attendant in China typically requires a bachelor's degree and passing a challenging English test.
The total number of flight attendants in China fell by around 11,000 during the flu season, or an 11 per cent drop from the pre-pandemic level of 108,955 in 2019 according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China CAAC due to attrition rather than the widespread layoffs seen in the West, according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Carriers including Spring Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines are on a hiring spree as domestic travel recovers and they plan to resume flights to popular international destinations.
They can choose from an overwhelming number of applicants at a time when a record 11.58 million college graduates are about to enter one of the country's worst job markets in decades. The gloomy global outlook has weakened export demand and companies in sectors like technology, education and property are cutting staff.
Hainan Airlines plans to hire more than 1,000 flight attendants this year, and has already received more than 20,000 applications, it told Reuters.
The job fair held in Jinan in February attracted 900 candidates and the company hired just 60 people, which has a selection rate of around 6 per cent.
China Southern plans to hire 3,000 cabin crew this year, and said it already had more than seven times as many applicants by the end of December.
Industry experts said that around 10 per cent of cabin crew applications were successful before the epidemic.
There have always been a large number of young girls and boys who want to do this job, as the income is not bad, usually between 10,000 and 454 and 20,000 yuan a month, and it is fun to fly around the world, said Li Hanming, an independent expert on China's aviation industry.
In the year 2021, only 6.1 per cent of fresh college graduates earned more than 10,000 yuan a month, according to the Global Times in February.
Wang Shenbo, who applied for a flight attendant position with Hainan Airlines, said most of his classmates were continuing to study for a master's degree in hopes of getting better paid jobs.
Some of them are not interested in the work of flight attendants, unlike me. Many of my classmates have found a job but are discontented with the salary level, he told Reuters.
Despite the surge in job seekers, airlines may find it hard to deploy new hires immediately due to the year-long ground training courses, which could slow their efforts to boost capacity and keep airfares high, Li said.
Carriers have a pretty bright forecast for 2024, so they need to hire crew members now, otherwise they will be short of hands next year, he added.
China's domestic capacity surpassed mid-March but international flights have recovered to just 30 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, according to Flight Tracking app Flight Master.
Chinese airlines are adding international capacity as the peak summer season approaches. Flag carrier Air China, for example, said it would return to pre-pandemic routes including Beijing-Rome, Beijing-Ho Chi Minh City and Chengdu-London.
But for now the limited capacity has resulted in higher fares.
I used to pay a third of that for a round trip, as I used to pay 18,000 yuan for a one-way economy ticket to Frankfurt to Beijing, said Jin Huo, a businessman.