Youths in China rush to become flight attendants as travel rebounds after three years

Beijing: A complete resumption of cross-border travel in China after three years following sudden relaxation in stringent ‘zero-Covid’ policy is coming as a boon for youngsters in the country. The Chinese airlines have started their biggest recruitment drive and have been witnessing a deluge of applicants for cabin crew roles. Though flight attendants in Western countries are relatively low-paid and aspirants require a university degree, in China, willing people just require a bachelor’s degree and preferably pass a challenging government-administrated English test. Drop in number of flight attendants According to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), during the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a decline of 11 per cent in the total number of flight attendants in China. About 11,000 cabin crew members left the job during the Covid period, from pre-pandemic level of 108,955 in 2019. Which Chinese airlines are recruiting cabin crew? According to a report by Reuters, carriers including Xiamen Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Spring Airlines are currently recruiting in large numbers as domestic travel revive and they plan to resume flights to popular international destinations. Hainan Airlines aims to hire more than 1,000 flight attendants this year. For the vacancies, the carrier has already received over 20,000 applications. China Southern plans to hire 3,000 cabin crew this year and it said that it has already had more than seven times as many applicants by the end of December. “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 ($1,454) and 20,000 yuan a month, and it is fun, allowing you to fly around the world,” the Reuters report quoted Li Hanming, an independent expert on China’s aviation industry, as saying. Average salary of a flight attendant in China? A report by The Global Times citied education consulting and research institute MyCOS saying that in 2021, only 10 per cent of fresh college graduates earned more than 10,000 yuan (approx $1,452). With inputs from Reuters Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.