President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that allows Russian airlines to hire foreign pilots, a move the Kremlin said was needed to end a shortage of pilots on civilian flights as passenger numbers grow.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the law comes five months after 50 people were killed in the crash of a Tatarstan Airlines jet, blamed on pilot error, which highlighted concerns that Russia does not have enough pilots to meet growing demand.
“The (new) federal law is designed to liquidate the deficit of commanders to civilian aircraft,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
It said the law would allow airlines to hire foreign pilots over the next five years, indicating that no new foreign pilots could be hired after April 2019 but those already employed in Russia could remain.
Russia and the other former Soviet republics combined have one of the worst air-traffic safety records, with a total accident rate almost three times the world average in 2011, according to IATA.
After the November 17 Tatarstan Airlines crash, federal investigators said the pilot may have received his license from a training facility that was later closed on suspicion of operating illegally.
