A report by Minnie Chan on May 21, 2017, analysing China's aircraft carrier power quoted retired PLAN Senior Captain and Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie as saying that China carrier strike group air crews are still far below international standard. Li Jie said “An aircraft carrier needs regular large-scale maintenance. China should have more than four carrier groups if it wants to fulfil escort missions on the high seas and safeguard its overseas national interests. A sole aircraft carrier cannot become a fighting force because it needs the presence of other warships to form a strike group, as well as the protection given by other vessels.” 

Li Jie said a formal aircraft carrier strike group needs 4,500 to 5,000 crew members, including carrier-borne fighter pilots, air operation officers, engineers and crew members on other warships. China’s two carriers will require about 10,000 crew when fully operating. A China Central Television documentary that aired in March 2017, separately said when PLAN officers started operating the Liaoning, they faced a big challenge – commanding more than 2,000 crew members from 19 ethnic groups. Li Jie revealed that to make the Liaoning functional, China copied many parts of the US air crew operation system, including the rainbow-coloured uniforms designed for flight deck crews and the gesture language of Landing Signal Officers (LSO), Arresting Gear Officers (AGO) and other crew members. He added “Cultivating a team of qualified carrier-based fighter pilots, along with LSO, AGO and other crew is much harder than training fighter jet pilots and air operators based on land, because the length of the runway on a carrier deck is just one-tenth of the airstrip on land. 

Hardware of aircraft carriers can be quickly constructed through working around the clock once you got the construction technology, but training crews takes tremendous experience, which can only be achieved by being accumulated over time.” The CCTV reported the South China Sea training had helped the Liaoning pilots quickly master night flights, the first step in becoming proficient in all-weather operations. Li Jie said the number of carrier-borne pilots should more than equal the quantity of J-15 fighters. For example, a US aircraft carrier with 80 aircraft has more than 120 pilots on board, but China so far just has 37 carrier-borne pilots in total, which is only enough to serve the 24 J-15 fighter Squadron on the Liaoning.