SHIJIAZHUANG -- If the local manufacturer here showcased China's aviation heritage, its flight academy showcases its future.
Beijing PanAm International Aviation Academy is the first private, independent professional pilot training academy in China approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. It opened for business two years ago, using Western instructors to train Chinese pilots on Diamond trainer jets in the basics of flight, preparing them for certification on China's domestic jetliners.
Jack Li is the academy's chairman. He helped start it after 20 years in Chinese aviation, mainly in air traffic management. He said the academy is a simple response to the supply-and-demand need for Chinese pilots.
"China isn't capitalist or socialist. It's responding to its needs," he said. "The country is trying to grow, and it's trying to remain stable.
"America has more than 200,000 airplanes, and we only have a few thousand," he continued. "The authorities in government are very pleased we are here training pilots. I expect more schools like this one to form."
Right now the academy, which is near Shijiazhuang's airport, is training 156 cadets, all but two sent there by China's airlines. But the school's training is easily transferrable to business jets and general aviation, which Li said he expects to ultimately boost the demand for pilot training even further.
"We do what's best for the airlines, and for the students," he said. "As China grows wealthier, more people will pay for their own training so they can become pilots."
Li said that after two decades connected to the governnment, Western-style entrepreneurship is a challenge -- especially to his generation, which reached adulthood just as Deng Xiaoping allowed China's first market reforms. He said he was uniquely suited to the start up due to his connections with airlines and the government.
"But that's no different than anywhere else in the world," he said. "You have a professional team that manages the business, and you succeed."
My interview with Li was scheduled to last a half-hour, but it ran over, as he sat down for coffee after the academy tour to talk more about his business and life. He's been an aviation enthusiast since he was in college, and he's excited about expanding Pan Am's fleet, maybe adding some Raytheon King Airs to his Diamonds.
And what jet does he want to own?
"I don't want to buy an airplane," he said. "I don't have enough money." Li, who has spent half his life in aviation, doesn't have a pilot's license. "I plan to train for one next spring," he said.
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