[photopress:aviation_training_1.jpg,full,alignright]The figures are slightly frightening. According to the latest report from China Academy of Personnel Science, which should be able to make a fair stab at the figures, China will need at least 240,000 civil aviation personnel over the next 20 years.
The civil aviation industry in China is developing at a pace two times faster than the world average. Think about that for a moment and then understand why China faces greater shortages of pilots, crew members and maintenance experts.
Yu Renlu, an official with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), said, ‘China’s civil aviation industry will need 10,000 pilots by 2010.’
Currently, 90% of China’s pilots are from the Sichuan-based Civil Aviation Flight University of China (CAFUC), which recruits about 1,000 students a year.
Chinese airlines spend a RMB1 million ($123,000 U.S. dollars) training pilots who study for four years at CAFUC before graduating with a pilot license and a bachelor’s degree.
Understandably, pilots are often required to sign long-term contracts with the Chinese airlines that have paid for their training. In recent years, an increasing numbers of lawsuits have been reported between domestic airlines and pilots who want to quit their jobs to work for foreign or privately-owned airlines that offer higher salaries.
Yu Renlu said that to meet the demand for new pilots, CAFUC should enroll more students and find alternative ways to pay for their training. He said in the future, pilots should pay for their own training, allowing them to choose which airline they want to work for after graduation. He did not say where the trainee pilots would find the necessary RMB1 million to pay for it.
Source: China Daily