China lands South Korean pilots in race to fill cockpits

After 23 years as a pilot for flag carrier Korean Air Lines, Lee Young-ho left for a Chinese airline that offered him double his current salary and other perks to captain a Boeing 777 in one of the world’s fastest-growing air travel markets. Lee is one of a growing number of Korean pilots moving to China, where airlines are desperately recruiting experienced fliers because demand is growing faster than they can train up their own crews. “In China you can see planes grounded just because there aren’t enough captains to fill the cockpits,” said Lee, who left Korean Air three years ago to join the biggest Chinese airline by fleet size, China Southern Airlines. He said his team alone last year hired at least 40 pilots, mainly from European budget carriers. Veteran pilots from South Korean airlines are among those most sought-after by Chinese carriers for their level of training and cultural proximity, experts say. But their departure is draining Korean carriers of experience and pressuring staff schedules, leading the pilots union to demand large wage increases and raise safety fears. Korean Airlines is now trying to hire retired military pilots and recruit experienced aviators from rival carriers, a company spokesman said. Concerns about safety are unfounded because the carrier runs its own pilot training programs, he said. A shortage of experienced pilots is one of the biggest worries airlines are facing across the world, said Mark Martin from an aviation advisory firm. “They need to train pilots, but then, loyalty is an issue,” he said. As air route networks rapidly expand to serve Asia’s burgeoning middle classes, the region is forecast to need 226,000 new pilots in the next 20 years—more than Europe, North America and Africa combined, according to Boeing.<br/>