Russian Ministry of Finance suggested that the pilots should be trained at the expense of the airlines. This proposal is specified in the ministry’s draft report on assessment of the efficiency of federal expenditures and proposals for their optimization. The final version of the report will be presented to the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, Business-TASS reports.

In most countries the pilot training is carried out on the commercial basis. The training period is 2,5-3 years and then the graduates usually get a well-paid job. "The average salary of pilots in Russia is 150-300 thousand rubles per month, - said in the draft report. – Investment in such kind of education is an economically sound project. In this regard the authorities may consider the possibility of training up to 70% of pilots at the expense of the airlines".

However, the amount to be saved by means of implementing these measures is not specified in the document.

Russian flight schools trained over 550 pilots in 2012. The total student intake of the flight schools was 890 cadets in 2013, the projected intake in 2014 – over 1000 cadets. The cost of full training course is about 4,5 million rubles per cadet, the specialized secondary program - 3,5 million rubles.

The Ministry of Transport has earlier elaborated a draft governmental decree allowing the foreign citizens to work in Russian crews (up to 200 pilots per year). "During the 1995-2009 period about 160 pilots graduated from the flight schools annually, - Ministry of Economic Development objected. – Every year about 700 pilots quit job in civil aviation for different reasons. It will take 3 or 4 years to train the crew for a new aircraft type and 6 or 8 years to train the captain after graduating from a flight school. At that the industry requires around 1500 new crew members annually".