Chinese Airline Hiring “Air Aunties” With Empathy And Life Experience

A Chinese airline is making headlines for the approach that it’s taking to hiring flight attendants, with people having mixed reactions, as reported by the South China Morning Post…

Spring Airlines wants to hire married parents as flight attendants

On October 22, 2025, China’s Spring Airlines announced new openings for flight attendant positions. The Shanghai-based airline, which is also the country’s first budget carrier, is taking an unconventional approach to the type of candidates it’s hiring, though.

The airline is looking for “air aunties,” as they’re called, who are between 25 and 40 years old, ideally married and with children. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree, must be between 162cm and 174cm in height, and must have experience in customer service.

This is quite a contrast to the typical flight attendant hiring we see in China, where candidates are often restricted to being between the ages of 18 and 25, with a preference for them being unmarried and not having children.

A recruitment manager explained that the desire for “air aunties” is because they bring valuable life experience and empathy, which helps them to take better care of passengers, particularly children and the elderly. This is also part of the carrier’s effort to grow its workforce while supporting more job opportunities, in a country where the legal retirement age for women is usually 50.

The “air aunties” title has caused quite the controversy

Spring Airlines’ job posting went viral in China, given the use of the term “air aunties” to refer to these prospective flight attendants.

Many thought the title was disrespectful to women, singling out how they’re older and married. However, the airline defended itself by clarifying that it meant no offense, sharing “we wanted to distinguish them from unmarried applicants,” and “their duties, pay and career paths are the same as any other flight attendant.”

Spring Airlines reportedly already employs 88 “air aunties,” though nearly three-quarters of them have already moved into management roles (which suggests they may actually have better career paths than the non-aunties?).

The airline also shared that the term “air auntie” dates back to the 1990s, when China’s civil aviation industry first began recruiting laid-off female textile workers as flight attendants. I’m not sure “hey, we called them that back in the day, so there’s nothing wrong with doing so now” is a great justification, but…

Regardless of whether or not the term “air aunties” is offensive, I commend the airline for prioritizing experience, compassion, and service, over simply looks and young age. I’d say that’s progress in a country where the job of flight attendant has often been too focused on superficial traits.

Bottom line

Spring Airlines in China is taking an unconventional approach to hiring flight attendants, as the company is specifically seeking out “air aunties” who are married and have children. The intent is that these flight attendants have more compassion and life experience, which are important traits for dealing with the traveling public.

In a country where flight attendants have historically been hired based on their youth and looks, it’s nice to see this shift in general, even if many people take offense to the “air aunties” term.

What do you make of Spring Airlines’ “air aunties” hiring push?