At present, there are three main sources of domestic airline pilots: one is to entrust the Civil Aviation Flight Academy to train pilots, the other is to change jobs in the Air Force, that is, "military to civilian", and the third is to recruit foreign pilots. Among the new generation of young pilots, the proportion of "military to civilian" has dropped sharply, and entrusted training has become the main way for airlines to recruit pilots. There are also two different forms of students entrusted for training. Part of it is a "great change in driving", that is, sophomores and juniors who meet the requirements of flight recruitment receive professional training in flight driving for one or two years. The other part is "cultivating students". After graduating from high school, he was directly selected as a pilot, sent to an aviation school for four years to receive a complete study of basic aviation theory, and then the airline was trained in aircraft theory and practice before he could engage in commercial flight.

Whether it is "training students" or "changing drivers", airlines basically bear all the training expenses of students after signing contracts with them, unless there are special circumstances, this figure is often in the hundreds of thousands.

After many rigorous physical examinations, psychological tests and political examinations, a student of "Driving to University" received English training in China for three months to six months, and was sent abroad for training for one to two years. The foreign teacher led the on-board training and obtained the airline transportation license. The whole cycle is about two years, and the cost of a single training is about 700 thousand yuan. If it is a "training student", you can directly report to Shandong Airlines Training Department after graduating from college for four years. However, no matter "changing driving" or "training students", they must continue to receive theoretical study and 1 month simulator study in the training department for about two months before taking up their posts, and pass the qualification training. The whole new employee training process takes 4 to 6 months.

Before knocking on the door of airlines, flight students are faced with a cruel elimination process. For example, the grounding rate of Guanghan Flight Academy in Sichuan is about 15%, and students who "changed their driving" were grounded without taking a flight license. Others, such as industry norms and work style discipline, may be given a "red card". "The grounding rate of students is about 15%," said Zhang Xinrong. For airlines, the training cost of eliminated flight students is doomed to "beat Shui Piao". "This is also the performance of being responsible for passengers. The pilot is the most critical and last hurdle to ensure flight safety. Qualified pilots are the top priority of airline training. "