China Southern Airlines has started charging its cadets for pilot training. The Guangzhou-based airline says it has recruited 100 male students from across China who will be paying to qualify as pilots. They will do some basic training in China before going to the China Southern West Australian Flying College in Perth, Western Australia for ab initio training.
Once the students receive a commercial pilot's licence they will work as pilots for the airline. Despite paying for their training, they will receive the same salary as pilots that had their training funded by the carrier.
"In the market economy airlines can't do [pay] everything. You will see more of this in future," says China Southern.
A China News Service report says students will be charged 650,000 yuan ($85,000) and that the combined course takes two years.
Source: Flight International
