Getting your player ready...
BEIJING — A pilot shortage is throttling the dramatic and safe ascent of China’s aviation industry, leaving hundreds of new Boeing and Airbus jetliners on order without pilots to fly them. China will need an average of 2,500 pilots each year for the next two decades, but it can’t meet the demand. So for the first time, foreign pilots are taking command of some Chinese airliners. Aviation Minister Yang Yuanyuan recently said the industry is growing “too fast.” He’s cut back daily flights, slowed the launches of startup airlines and warned that safety must prevail over growth. Chinese aviation regulators say the nation will need an additional 9,000 or more pilots by 2010.
