Skies too friendly for foreign pilots
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E-mail China Daily, September 6, 2012
Pilots: Salaries have soared in recent years
"We must avoid the situation that China's aviation industry offers opportunities in gaining experience for foreign co-pilots but ignores training our own," he said.
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Civil flight pilots [file photo] |
According to Jin, by the end of 2011, China had a total of 1,758 student pilots awaiting further training in China's major airlines. This would provide a pool of talent for airlines, he said.
But Hsu Ping, junior vice-president of the pilot administration department at the flight operations division of Eva Airways, said that pilot numbers remain a problem.
It takes six to eight years to train a pilot for commercial flights, Hsu said, and Chinese airlines may have to employ foreign pilots for the foreseeable future.
Wang Weisong, a representative from Sichuan Airlines said that fierce competition has pushed up salary levels and foreign pilots are also asking for more holidays.
In a pilot recruitment fair held in Miami in February, Chinese airlines were offering pilot salaries of $200,000, about twice the salary of Chinese pilots hired in the top three carriers, the Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News said.
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