"The program was compiled by janitors": Honored pilot called the CPGA for a thousand aircraft absurd

Honored Pilot of the USSR, member of the public council of Rostransnadzor Oleg Smirnov, in an interview with "The First Technical", stated that the Comprehensive Program for the Development of Civil Aviation (CPGA) until 2030 for the production of a thousand aircraft in Russia initially had no real basis and could not be completed within the stated timeframe.

Built castles in the air

According to him, the production of such a number of aircraft requires millions of components and at least two thousand aircraft engines. At the same time, no enterprise in the country currently produces engines on a mass scale.

The program was compiled according to the competence of a janitor. Even he understands that this is absurd, not a program. When it came out, my colleagues and I first laughed, and then we saw how the deadlines began to shift to the right.

Oleg Smirnov, Honored Pilot of the USSR

Smirnov recalled that the program was created without taking into account the real capabilities of the industry. As a result, billions of rubles were allocated for its implementation, but the aircraft were never put into mass production.

Promises not fulfilled

As an example, he cited the project of the light aircraft "Baikal", which, in his estimation, turned out to be unsuitable for operation and requires redesign.

To date, not a single promise has been fulfilled. Not a single aircraft has been put into series production. The situation with engines is the same.

Oleg Smirnov, Honored Pilot of the USSR

The aircraft fleet is shrinking, and costs are rising

He also drew attention to the reduction of the aircraft fleet. According to research by four independent companies, in 2026 the number of aircraft on airlines may decrease by 10%.

Our commercial load is up to 95%. It is abnormal when demand exceeds supply.

Oleg Smirnov, Honored Pilot of the USSR

Smirnov warned that the reduction of the fleet will lead to a decrease in traffic volumes and increase the load on the remaining aircraft. This, in turn, will accelerate the depletion of equipment resources and exacerbate the crisis in the industry.

The founder of the flight safety and certification service RunAvia, Andrey Patrakov, also stated earlier to "The First Technical" that the plans enshrined in the CPGA are impossible to implement.

At the same time, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov recently noted that the CPGA will still be revised, but only after the certification of the SJ-100, MS-21-300, and Il-114-300.