Outback Australians Grounded as Pilot Crisis Worsens

Outback Australians Grounded as Pilot Crisis Worsens
A Qantas Airways Airbus A330 aircraft can be seen on the tarmac near the domestic terminal at Sydney Airport in Australia, Nov. 30, 2017. Reuters/David Gray
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A recruitment drive by Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd after a seven-year hiatus is exacerbating shortages of pilots at regional air services that provide a lifeline to remote communities in the country’s sparsely populated Outback.

As airlines from Asia, Europe and North America vie for pilots amid a global shortage, there is growing concern among people in Australia’s vast interior who rely on flights to major cities for medical treatment.