Foreign F/As working for Chinese airlines
Apr 15, 2019, 6:39 pm
#1
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Foreign F/As working for Chinese airlines
Hi, folks. I'm curious: have any of you spotted a foreign F/A working for a Chinese airline before? I did on my BKK-PVG flight on MU a couple of weeks ago, which surprisingly was upgauged to the 77W from an A333! 
(The plane was B-2025, and interestingly enough, this was also the plane I flew the connecting PVG-LAX on. First time that's happened!)
I didn't get her name but her nameplate didn't have a Chinese name on it, which is how I know she's a foreigner. Before this flight, all the F/As I've seen on all the Chinese airlines I've flown (CZ, CA, MU, FM) were Chinese.
That said, how common are foreign F/As on mainland Chinese airlines? I imagine they're quite rare, right?
(The plane was B-2025, and interestingly enough, this was also the plane I flew the connecting PVG-LAX on. First time that's happened!)I didn't get her name but her nameplate didn't have a Chinese name on it, which is how I know she's a foreigner. Before this flight, all the F/As I've seen on all the Chinese airlines I've flown (CZ, CA, MU, FM) were Chinese.
That said, how common are foreign F/As on mainland Chinese airlines? I imagine they're quite rare, right?
Last edited by Akiestar; Apr 15, 2019 at 7:35 pm
Apr 16, 2019, 1:44 am
#4
Join Date: Dec 2006
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Not saying that she is or isn't, but keep in mind that a lot of people who are half do not always have strong Asian features. I have lived in Japan for many years, and sometimes you would have no idea that half Japanese people were Japanese, but they could have lived and grown up here and not even speak English (or their foreign parents' language).
Apr 16, 2019, 3:52 am
#5
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I was on a CA flight from SHA to PEK where there was an Italian FA. Her Chinese was very basic but she insisted on trying to speak to customers in Chinese, even when they'd answer her in English. Not sure how she got the gig but I had to give her respect for trying! I assume they use her on the Milan or Rome flights mainly.
Apr 19, 2019, 4:21 am
#9
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not-technically a Chinese airline politically speaking, but I was sort of surprised to see European F/As on a Cathay flight from Manchester. This I haven't seen before on CX, as I've only encountered F/As mostly from HK, PH, ID, TH, TW, JP, KR, and occasionally IN.
Apr 19, 2019, 4:37 am
#10
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Many airlines, not just Chinese, hire FAs with different language skills. But it usually ends up hiring foreign FAs instead. Depending the schedules/routes, airlines place FAs to meet the customer need.
Apr 24, 2019, 10:18 pm
#14
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If that was the case, she'd be speaking Chinese and her nameplate would have a Chinese and/or Uyghur name (in Arabic script, supposedly). This wasn't the case -- if I remember what her accent sounded like, I think she's French.