Lion Air’s Boeing 737-900ER pilot simulation training at the Angkasa Training Center Bandara Mas in Jakarta.
Global traffic is set to double in the next two decades with the biggest increase expected in the Asia-Pacific region, where almost 4 billion passenger journeys are expected, according to the International Air Transport Association. Even some outside Asia are running into problems: Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, said in April that a shortage of pilots forced it to cut flights.
“If I think back to five to 10 years, we weren’t seeing any training academies set by airlines,” said Wendy Sowers, director of commercial marketing at Boeing. “The supply-demand dynamics are coming into play. You are seeing the system respond.”