But there were only 31,381 licensed pilots in China at the end of 2012, according to the CAAC.

The nation's shortage of pilots exceeded 10,000 in 2012, and the number is even bigger now, said Zou Jianjun, a professor at the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China.

Foreign pilots are an effective solution for Chinese airlines, as the domestic pilot training system can't keep up with demand, Zou said.

Attractive alternative

Positions at Chinese airlines look good to many foreign pilots. Chinese airlines offer high salaries, and they offer an alternative to the cost-cutting that's affected the Western civil aviation industry in recent years.

The average monthly salary for foreign pilots in China ranges from $15,000 to $20,000 - double or even triple what Chinese pilots earn and better than the paychecks at many Western carriers.

Some foreign pilots are also drawn to the challenges offered by China's fast-growing civil aviation industry.

"Foreign pilots are more interested in Chinese airlines in recent years, as China's civil aviation industry is on the rise," HNA Group said in a statement to China Daily.

The number of flights in China is expected to grow by about 7 percent annually over the next 20 years, and the country will be the world's largest air traffic market by 2030, according to the CAAC.

"It's a perfect 'give and take'," said Wolfgang Muller, an Austrian A340 captain working at Hainan Airlines.

Some Chinese airlines have set up special departments to manage foreign pilots and help them live in China.

Because of cultural differences, Chinese managers need to be more patient in communicating with expats, said Chen Xin, deputy manager of the foreign pilot fleet at Hainan Airlines.

For example, Chinese pilots accept that they can't take vacation at peak periods in China (usually legal holidays), but managers need to make this clear to foreign pilots, Chen said.

Drawing up the roster for foreign pilots also falls to Chen, and he needs to make sure the Chinese co-pilots can speak English, he said.

"But it's not a problem now, since most of our Chinese pilots speak English fluently," Chen added.

Human resources

However, carriers still face challenges in enlarging their teams of foreign pilots.

For example, according to a regulation issued by the CAAC in 2012, "the proportion of foreign pilots should be controlled inside a reasonable scope by their employers".

Also, China has strict health standards for pilots, and most of the foreign pilots who leave Chinese airlines do so because they're deemed medically unfit, said a business insider who declined to be identified.

The authorities are also pushing domestic carriers to train more Chinese pilots and stop recruiting foreign co-pilots.

Chinese airlines cannot depend too much on foreign pilots or ignore the training of flight crews, Jin Yibin, chief pilot of the CAAC, said during a seminar in 2012.

After all, he said, most foreign pilots leave China eventually and that will mean problems for airlines that depend on them too much now, Jin said.

Zhao Lei contributed to this story.