Russian Industry and Trade Minister Oleg Bocharov told the Eastern Economic Forum that pilots should become mechanics and learn how to perform aircraft maintenance.
«Together with the Ministry of Transport, we should prepare and certify pilots as universal soldiers: they should be pilots and mechanics at the same time, and the standard equipment should include items and tools to be able to perform repairs in scale,» he said.
As reported by Aerotime, the minister also revealed that the ministries are moving forward on a system that would allow maintaining the airworthiness of regional aircraft. For Bocharov, it is important for pilots to be able to replace parts and change configurations without assistance.
It is estimated that more than six months after the outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, and because of sanctions imposed by the European Union, the Russian airline industry is facing an unprecedented crisis.
The almost total elimination of international traffic has generated a wave of redundancies of technical personnel and crews, as well as a drop in the availability of spare parts and rotables for the leased fleet.
