China Pilots Association To Assist 9 Chinese Airlines With Background Checks For Expats Seeking Jobs

BEIJING - July 16, 2014 - PRLog -- Today Phil Carver of the China Pilot's Association confirmed that the CPA had agreed to help Chinese airlines screen expat foreign pilots for about a fourth of the Chinese airline industry after learning of a dozen incidents including two veteran expat pilots who had concealed criminal histories for drug-related crimes and/or sexual assault. Details were not provided but it was learned that the nine foreign pilots in question were allowed to resign or retire, even though the convictions are more than a decade old in all but one of the cases.

In most cases pilots are currently asked to obtain and forward their own police certifications which apparently left the door open for counterfeit certificates being submitted. Although none of the 9 pilots were cited for any safety violations, and their flying records for the last ten years were nearly incident-free, the Chinese government is strictly enforcing their HR policies with zero tolerance.

The CPA will seek police records at the federal, state/provincial, city, and county records for the airlines who expect to hire over 50,000 pilots in the next 5-10 years  Aviation fever has been spreading in China ever since the government opened the doors, and airspace to civil aviation in the last five years. For details see http://www.china.org.cn/business/2014-07/08/content_32885283.htm. (http://www.china.org.cn/business/2014-07/08/content_32885...) It has not yet been determined if the applicant or airline would pay for the investigations which is expected to take up to ten days. Tourism and business travel to China is growing more than 7% per annum, along with air traffic and flights.

The CPA which is staffed mostly by expat volunteers, has agreed to hire some bi-lingual specialists to ensure efficient and confidential processing of the applications.  Carver who is a retired pilot himself said "We can understand the concerns of the Chinese HR people, since pilots in China are selected and groomed right out of High School and their histories are crystal-clear transparent. But they have no way to enjoy that same transparency with pilots which may have worked in two to five countries before coming to China."

Carver confirmed however that no background checks would be conducted without first obtaining the written consent from the pilot applicants who would also be allowed to review the report to challenge any incorrect information that might appear.