Chinese airlines seek to end pilot shortage

Rapid expansion is putting pressure on industry's recruitment programs

Major airlines in China have lowered recruitment thresholds and increased training budgets to lure more college students and graduates into their cockpits as a pilot shortage spreads across the country's booming aviation industry.

In its latest pilot recruitment announcement, China Eastern Airlines, one of China's three major commercial carriers, doubled its enrollment to more than 300, the largest recruitment in the company's history.