Probably, but China doesn’t have any pilots. There’s a pilot shortage all over the world. Old guard is retiring or getting forced out due to age restrictions. Lots of the military guys, due to the operational tempo of the GWOT, don’t want to fly anymore. They get a decent pension from the military and then a desk job in middle or upper level management, weekends off, holidays off and they’re not responsible for a few hundred people.
There’s a flight school outside of Atlanta that has a contract with the Chinese government to get Chinese students up to speed from Zero to Hero, on flying commercial aircraft. Went there to ask about taking classes and there had to be a few hundred of them, running around. They’re not allowed to speak Chinese, at all, during the school day. Flight school rep says they just rotate them thru. School is making bank.
This is what I’m talking about
China’s rival to Boeing 737 now has nearly 1,000 orders
The bimbo eruptions at Boeing will never see anything like 7000 orders from China. They’re at their peak right now. Like everyone else who does business in China —they have been had.
From takeoff to landing, modern passenger jets practically fly themselves. The two people occupying the flight deck of today's 737 do little more than monitor instruments and taxi in and out of parking spots on the ground.
Once the flying public accepts it, there won't be human pilots on the airplane at all. It'll be a technician wearing a spiffy uniform, carrying a tablet to look important but mostly he'll be flirting with the flight attendants.