Shanghai Airlines is standing by its policy of asking employees who are about to marry to surrender information regarding their spouse despite outrage by netizens and employees. The airline claims the policy is common in the industry, but other airlines say otherwise.
The policy came to light when several people complained about it over social media. The issue then caught the attention of English-language Chinese news portal Shanghai Daily.
The company did not mention when the policy was first introduced.
China's marriage law explicitly states that no person has the right to have a say in the marriages of other people. However, the airline claims that its policy is nothing new.
"It is common in the civil aviation industry for companies to investigate their employees' families to determine if they have a criminal record," said Shanghai Airlines in a statement made to respond to the debate online.
"It is mainly to ensure flight safety," the airline said.
According to documents examined by Shanghai Daily, security guard, flight attendants and pilots must all surrender to the company information about the persons they are planning to marry.
Refusing or failing to surrender the information will give the employee demerit points, which will be included in their employment record.
"It's disgusting," said a Shanghai Airlines flight attendant surnamed Wang. "I feel lucky that I got married before the notice was issued."
"It's like something from ancient China," said Nancy via WeChat.
Despite the airline company's insistence that the procedure is common in the aviation industry, Shanghai Daily has found contrary evidence from its investigation.
An anonymous employee from China Southern Airlines said that the airline used to have a similar policy, but has since gotten rid of it.
Spring Airlines flight attendant Joe Jiang claims she was never asked to surrender information or comply with background checks on her new husband when she got married several years ago.
However, this is not the only case where an airline is involving itself in the romantic lives of its pilots. Turkish Airlines' CEO Temel Kotil said in April that he encourages his pilots to get married as a way to reduce the risk of destructive behavior.