BEIJING - Foreign
pilots are to be brought in by the nation's flag
carrier to operate expanding air fleets caused by
soaring passenger demand. Air China said it was
planning an overseas recruitment drive because it
was suffering a severe pilot shortage.
"Air China has planned to introduce 20 to
30 airplanes within this year, but the exact
number will depend on the supply of aircrew
members, particularly the pilots," said Li Huxiao,
a senior staff from the Beijing-based airline
company. "Currently, we are short
at
least 40 captains, so we will try to recruit
foreign pilots," Li said. He gave no details about
the exact number of foreign pilots his company
planned to recruit.
Air China's problems
reflect the fact China's booming commercial
aviation industry is taking off faster than the
country can train pilots. According to statistics
from the General Administration of Civil Aviation
of China (CAAC), the industry regulator, about
11,000 pilots are employed to fly more than 770
aircraft operated by the major Chinese commercial
airlines, a figure industry experts say is
inadequate to cope with rocketing demand for
passenger services.
The Civil Aviation
Flight University of China, the nation's major
training school for commercial airline pilots
based in Sichuan and Henan provinces,
graduates a maximum of 600 pilots a year. Based on
the delivery of new aircraft, industry experts
estimate that China has needed between 1,200 and
1,600 new pilots every year since 2000.
To
the major state-owned airlines such as Air China,
China Southern Airlines and China Eastern
Airlines, another increasing challenge is the
expansion of private carriers in the country, as
private airlines attempted to hire away their
aircrew. Ten captains from the Jiangsu Branch of China
Eastern Airlines asked to resign in December in
order to work elsewhere, something that had never
happened before the advent of private airlines.
In the context of the rapid growth of the
civil aviation industry, the shortage of pilots,
particularly captains, is a serious problem, said
Hao Yuping, deputy senior director of Air China.
