Boeing Report Foresees Unprecedented Demand for New Technicians

On July 20, Boeing released its 2015 Pilot and Technician Outlook. The report forecasts the global commercial aviation industry will need more than one million new workers – 558,000 pilots and 609,000 maintenance technicians – to meet unprecedented demand between now and 2034.

“As global economies expand and airlines take delivery of tens of thousands of new commercial jetliners over the next 20 years,” Boeing’s report said, “there will be unprecedented demand for people to pilot and maintain these airplanes.”

The long-term demand for maintenance skills equates to roughly 30,000 new technicians per year, with need in every corner of the world. As already seen in the Aeronautical Repair Station Association's 2015 Global Fleet and MRO Market Assessment, strong growth in Asia will lead global demand for the foreseeable future; more than one-third of all new technicians over the next two decades will fill positions in the region.

In North America, more than 100,000 new maintainers will be needed over the forecast period – 5,500 new positions each year and 19 percent of total growth. This addition to the existing workforce does not capture recruitment necessary to replace aging workers, whose retirements have been long-expected to deplete the industry’s existing personnel base.

The overall lesson is clear and has now become oft-repeated: As the global civil aviation market continues to grow, keeping the flying public safely aloft will require the dedicated effort of well-trained men and women supported by a healthy and cooperative international industry.

Get involved in this global effort – learn about ICAO’s Next Generation of Aviation Professionals Task Force (ATEC is a participant) and the resource it provides the global industry.