In the 1990s, pilots had to work as taxi drivers, but nowadays the situation has completely changed. This was stated by the commander of the flight detachment, test pilot of PJSC "Yakovlev" (part of the United Aircraft Corporation of Rostec), Hero of Russia Leonid Chikunov.
According to him, the aviation industry was then practically on the verge.
We, the testers, were often forced to load and unload airplanes at night, to work as taxi drivers. Now we fly almost every day. Sometimes on Saturdays and holidays.
Economist Dmitry Semenov noted that domestic aviation industry enterprises are capable of providing airlines with domestically produced aircraft. However, this will not happen as quickly as we would like — the process may take 5-10 years.
Aviation expert Roman Gusarov also explained to "The First Technical" that the new MC-21s will not be exported in the next 10 years or so — first you need to saturate your own airlines.