Airliner Accounts For A Large Portion Of The Country's Fleet

As the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX appears to be extending into 2020, airlines in China are hiring very few new pilots for the aircraft.

The South China Morning Post reports that Chinese airlines are still paying above-average wages, but with the airplanes unable to fly, there is little need for pilots to fly them.

China has long had issues with training enough air transport pilots to meet demand, and by the end of 2016, there were more than 1,000 foreigners in the cockpits of Chinese airliners, according to the report.

While China has a growing middle class, and it is forecast to become the largest aviation market in the world in the next 10 years, its economy is slowing due to a trade war with the United States. Boeing finds itself in the middle of that dispute.

It's all adding up to a need for fewer pilots. In fact, Andre Allard, president of AeroPersonnel Global in Montreal which has had a presence in China since 2007, said that his company has seen airlines suspend recruitment of 737 pilots completely.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report