Shanghai Air seeks damages as pilots resign: paper

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shanghai Airlines (600591.SS) has filed suit in a local court seeking a combined 35 million yuan ($5 million) in compensation from nine pilots who want to leave the company, local media said on Monday.

A court in Shanghai's Jingan District has accepted the case, in which Shanghai Air alleged the pilots' departure would harm its operations and flight safety, the Shanghai Daily said without citing sources.

The airline demanded that the pilots deliver on their lifetime labor contracts or pay compensation, the paper said, adding that resignation applications submitted previously by another 10 Shanghai Air pilots were now under arbitration.

A Shanghai Air spokesman said some pilots had submitted their resignation but declined to elaborate. Officials at the local Shanghai court could not immediately be reached.

Chinese airlines increasingly face a shortage of pilots due to booming air travel and the emergence of private airlines, such as budget carrier Spring Airlines, that are offering higher wages to lure pilots from big state-run firms.

Pilots at state carriers often must make sizable payments to their employers if they quit their jobs.

Labor disputes between pilots and carriers made national headlines earlier this month after 21 flights operated by a China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS) unit in southern China's Yunan Province returned to their departure airports soon after taking off, in what local media said was a protest over pay and working conditions.

China Eastern Airlines has grounded pilots involved in the incident and vowed to take strict measures once an investigation is complete.

($1=7.006 Yuan)

(Reporting by Fang Yan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)