Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has been instructed to submit proposals by the end of April on drastic reductions to the size of its organisation, in line with a wider Chinese Government push to cut the country's bloated bureaucracy.
China's newly installed premier Zhu Rongji wants to implement sweeping cuts in the number of government employees, in an on-going effort to reform the state sector. The CAAC is no exception and has been asked to look at making cuts of anywhere between 25% and 50% in its 150,000-strong nationwide workforce.
A CAAC official in Beijing confirms that the authority was being pressed to make reductions of this magnitude, but remains non-committal on if and how this could be achieved. "This is a very sensitive issue. Everybody is talking about it, but whether it is feasible and will be implemented remains open to debate," he adds.
The CAAC involves itself in virtually all aspects of aviation in China, from ticketing through to aircraft purchases. It continues to oversee the running and financing of China's six largest airlines, including flag carrier Air China, China Southern and China Eastern, despite growing local autonomy. Other, more traditional, regulatory activities include safety and airworthiness, pilot training and airport administration.
One restructuring suggestion is to spin off subsidiary operations, such as trading arm China Aviation Supplies (CASC). The dilemma is whether such independent organisations could survive. "Once the CASC is independent, every airline would say that it was no longer needed and instead purchase their own aircraft," warns an industry observer.
Another idea is to remove the CAAC's junior ministry status, combine it with the larger communications and railway ministries and place it all under the overall control of a newly created transport ministry. A clue may come in the pending appointment of a successor to former CAAC minister Chen Guangyi.
Source: Flight International
