Spring Airlines Slows China Expansion Plan on Pilot Shortage

Spring Airlines, China’s biggest low-cost carrier, slowed expansion because of a shortage of pilots in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market.

The airline now intends to have as many as 50 planes in service by 2015, compared with a previous target of 100, Chairman Wang Zhenghua said yesterday in an interview in Shanghai. The carrier may need to more than double its number of pilots from about 130 in the period, based on figures he gave.