Training and Workforce
U.S. Academy Helps China Fill Its Huge Pilot Training Gap
Rigorous screening and an emphasis on English language are proving valuable in preparing China's next generation of airline pilots.
The TransPac Aviation Academy in Arizona is now graduating around 400 Chinese student pilots each year. [Photo: TransPac]
The TransPac Aviation Academy in Arizona is now graduating around 400 Chinese student pilots each year. [Photo: TransPac]

China’s great need for airline pilots is well documented, not least by Boeing, which last year estimated that the country’s fast-expanding air transport industry will need some 77,400 pilots through 2032 (plus 93,900 mechanics). According to the airframer, that represents around 40 percent of the overall requirement across the Asia Pacific region over the same period. The question is how can a country with effectively no indigenous general aviation community cultivate so many future professional pilots, as is so commonly the case in the West?