Chinese airline mishaps put spotlight on pilots

Chinese airlines were buffeted this summer by a series of cockpit blunders that put passengers’ lives at risk, pointing to what foreign pilots say are serious flaws in training as China’s booming aviation industry struggles to meet demand for flight crews. China’s Civil Aviation Administration ordered in September a national aviation inspection to root out “unqualified employees” and addressing the “excessive expansion” of civil aviation. Chinese airline passenger numbers quadrupled to 552m between 2005 and 2017. Around 5,000 new pilots joined the country’s airlines last year, and Boeing estimates China will need another 6,500 a year for the next 20 years to meet demand. That breakneck pace has put too many inexperienced aviators in the cockpit, 7 foreign airline captains with current or recent experience with Chinese airlines said. <br/>