According to market forecasts, one of the biggest challenges for MROs in the future will be the problem of labor shortages. The rise in fleet appears to be massively outpacing the proposed maintenance technician quantity, particularly in the US and Europe. This is confirmed by the data from Boeing and Airbus market forecasts. Maintenance technicians are predicted to be a limited resource in the following years and the deficit of labor.
Half of the contemporary aircraft mechanics will retreat in the next 10-15 years. The deficit is, in part, a result of an aging global society. Executives in Europe state that it’s becoming harder to draw, develop and preserve mechanics than it ever has been before. The issue of drawing younger people to the industry is growing urgent, and the question was already raised at MRO Europe 2018 in Amsterdam.
Potential blow for the industry
The success of the aviation industry is constrained by its proficient workforce. The shortage of labor may drive up maintenance costs for airlines and enhance turnaround times for scheduled maintenance. This is a potentially ravaging blow for the industry, as many airlines now strive to keep profitability at a fair level due to low-cost tickets.
It’s becoming obvious that the airline and MRO industry must do something to label future labor hurdles. To keep onward of the competition, the industry needs to steadily build a firm core of aviation specialists and professionals by starting with youths.
The MROs and airlines that are adequately prepared to meet the shortage of labor head-on will have a lot to win in the years to come as demand for their skills rises.
Is there an answer?
There is an expanding amount of modern technology, such as data acquisition points and state of the art avionics that new aircraft are being provided with. Simultaneously with new aircraft, platforms come new skill set demands for the technicians engaged for the maintenance of the aircraft. This indicates that the aviation maintenance team of tomorrow will need a wider range of skills than ever before, further complicating the expected labor shortage.
Companies must, therefore, be ready to provide a greater number of older workers, who must be properly trained to abide productive in the digital era. Mechanics will have to be able to work both on the newest planes and those that have been flying for 20 years – and these are not necessarily the same types of planes.
First, companies can expand the candidate pool – by entering into public-private partnerships to draw more people into the technical profession. Then, they can fund training to get new mechanics up to skill as quickly as possible. Manpower development will be an abiding issue that the industry will be engaging with for some time to come. And third, they can invest in technologies and tools to provide the mechanics that they need at their point of view. Companies will have to look well ahead of the usual tactics of inaugurating up additional training programs.
Focus on employee satisfaction
Employees should be presented with growth possibilities, including chances for gaining knowledge and skills to help exceed in the next-gen maintenance activities and jobs. There are a lot of people from the millennial generation who could walk in to take the spot of the seasoned mechanics of today, but they should be attracted and interested.
Apart from the question how to make the industry appealing again, another important issue is the issue of salary. One of the suggestions that should be considering is hiring people with other professions than what is usually linked with aerospace. Building a more various workforce could lead the aviation industry in a new and possibly more effective direction.
One thing is for sure, the upcoming period will bring us many answers. On the other hand, the maintenance technician job will be very demanding and we assume adequately paid according to demand. Follow our site and stay up to date with the latest job offers.