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Bloomberg

Chinese airlines have largely stopped hiring foreign pilots for Boeing’s 737 MAX, nine months after two crashes led to the grounding of the bestselling model, according to recruitment agencies.
Carriers in China’s booming aviation market had been among the most enthusiastic buyers of the plane, accounting for 20 per cent of a global fleet that now sits idle.
Chinese airlines still pay above-market wages but the lengthy grounding has hit a swathe of roles paying multiple times the median salary of a commercial pilot in the United States.
With no clear timeline for the MAX’s reinstatement, demand for expat pilots of any 737 variant in China has slowed to a trickle.


“We’ve seen airlines suspend recruitment of 737 pilots,” said Andre Allard, president of AeroPersonnel Global in Montreal, which has worked in China since 2007.
“Many of these airlines had the MAX on order. That evidently changed their plans.”
China’s growing middle class has put the country on track to become the world’s biggest aviation market in the coming decade.
For many local airlines, short-haul workhorses like the 737 became the aircraft of choice but China has long struggled to produce enough pilots. By the end of 2016, Chinese carriers had more than 1,000 foreigners in their cockpits, double the number in 2010.


Boeing is under intense scrutiny following the two disasters that killed 346 people. In October last year, a Lion Air flight plunged into the sea soon after taking off from Jakarta, and in March an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed near Addis Ababa.
It is not just those MAX tragedies weighing on the sector. China’s economy is slowing, and the country is locked in a trade war with the US. As an American aerospace manufacturer, Chicago-based Boeing has found itself in the middle of the dispute.
China was the first major jurisdiction to ground the MAX plane, which has been banned from flying since March as Boeing tries to fix a flight-control system implicated in both crashes.
The US aviation regulator said in December it would not complete the aircraft’s required approvals until 2020.
A Boeing spokesman declined to comment on demand for foreign 737 pilots in China. Of the country’s big three carriers, China Eastern Airlines declined to comment, while Air China and China Southern Airlines did not respond to requests for comment.


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Chinese airlines drop foreign pilots in wake of Boeing 737 MAX tragedies

Chinese airlines have largely stopped hiring foreign pilots for Boeing’s 737 MAX. Photo: Imaginechina

China taking lead to ground Boeing 737 MAX 8 signals challenge to US authority in worldwide civil aviation

The FAA has shown reluctance to take tough action against a major American manufacturer. Photo: Getty Images/AFP)

FILE PHOTO: Workers load up recovered debris and belongings believed to be from Lion Air flight JT610 onto a truck at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 2, 2018. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

In this photo taken Monday, March 11, 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane being built for TUI Group sits parked in the background at right at Boeing Co.'s Renton Assembly Plant in Renton, Wash. Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday joined a rapidly growing number of countries grounding the new Boeing plane involved in the Ethiopian Airlines disaster or turning it back from their airspace, while investigators in Ethiopia looked for parallels with a similar crash just five months ago. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

European Union grounds Boeing 737 MAX, as a growing cascade of nations follows China’s lead after deadly crashes

An Air China Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Zhoushan. China operates the world’s largest contingent of the aircraft. Photo: AP

Royalty-free stock photo ID: 1108130321
Boeing 737-8 max China southern, airport Pulkovo, Russia Saint-Petersburg. 02 June 2018 - Image

The Boeing Company logo is seen on a building in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, on March 11, 2019. - Tumbling shares in US aviation giant Boeing on Monday tore a hole in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, sending the benchmark index into the red for a sixth day.About five minutes into the day's trading, Boeing shares were down 11.7 percent at $373.23 following the most recent crash of one of its aircraft in Ethiopia.The Dow fell 153.81 points to 25,319.42, but the broader S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to 2,758.27 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up an even stronger 0.7 percent at 7,474.61.The fatal crash of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 -- the second involving a Boeing 737 Max 8 in five months -- caused airlines in three countries to ground all flights involving the popular jet and cast fresh safety concerns on the airline. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

Graphic: SCMP

Boeing has unveiled a new 'dual-feather' winglet design to further improve the fuel efficiency of the reengined 737 Max.

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China

People & Culture


Chinese carriers account for 20 per cent of global fleet of grounded plane
Boeing still trying to fix a flight-control system implicated in two crashes



Chinese carriers account for 20 per cent of global fleet of grounded plane.


Boeing

Chinese airlines drop foreign pilots in wake of Boeing 737 MAX tragedies

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Chinese carriers account for 20 per cent of global fleet of grounded plane Boeing still trying to fix a flight-control system implicated in two crashes

Chinese carriers account for 20 per cent of global fleet of grounded plane

Boeing still trying to fix a flight-control system implicated in two crashes