Crappy future or will fluent mandarin make me attractive on the Chinese market?
Right now I am considering to become a pilot. (I know it's stupid these days, but pls continue reading.) I have been thinking about it for a while already and I have been checking online on forums, such as pprune to find out more about my prospects and job opportunities after I am done. It seems there is little or no chance to get jobs in the States or Europe.
However it still seems like China is recruiting pilots and that they are in need of thousands of pilots in the next years to come. I have studied mandarin Chinese for about four years and two of those were in China, which makes my Chinese quite good, if not fluent. I can read and speak without any problems, although I am of course not as good as a native Chinese person.
My questions are: Should I primarily focus on the Chinese market and get the licenses required to fly there? Should I consider doing the pilot program in China? Bel air, for example, has a commercial pilot package that meets China CAAC flight training requirements. It also includes 20 hours of Turboprop King Air C90A. This package is more expensive than the normal JAA+FAA package they offer though...
I guess if there is little or no chance to get a TR and later a job as FO in China, even if I speak Chinese, then I should probably drop this idea and figure out something else.
I hope that someone with insight in the Chinese market can help me. I am very helpful for any advice and any help I can get.
/MattSun