Aviation industry needs 1 million recruits in 20 years
Between now and 2034 around 560,000 pilots and 610,000 technicians will be needed worldwide in the aviation sector, according to industry projections from aircraft manufacturer Boeing. The Asia Pacific region will see the biggest increase in demand over the coming 20 years, in terms of both pilots and maintenance workers – more than a third of the demand worldwide.
In a recent research report by Cavok, the aviation consultant arm of Oliver Wyman, a forecast is made that over the coming ten years the worldwide aircraft fleet will grow by an average 3.7% annually. The fleet will thereby grow from nearly 24,000 planes in 2015 to a total of around 34,400 plans in 2025. According to the consultants, particularly the Asian fleet is expected to see rapid growth over the coming decade – with an expected growth rate of 6.1%, thereby accounting for an addition of 5,200 planes.
New recruits
Because the fleet of planes is set to increase worldwide, the jobs required to support them are also expected to grow across the industry. In a forecast by Boeing the aircraft manufacturer makes a prediction about the number of people the airline industry will need to fly and maintain the growing fleet. Globally by 2034, airlines will, according to Boeing, need more than a million new pilots and technicians. The growth is partly the result of a pick-up in the global economy and partly due to the growing middle classes in large economies such as Brazil, China and India.
Between now and 2034, 558,000 new pilots will be needed to keep the fleet in the air. The biggest share of pilot positions are expected to open up in the Asia-Pacific region – around 226,000, more than 40% of the total. In Europe and North America an expected 95,000 pilot positions for each region will be created over the same period. The slowest region for pilot growth is expected to be the African region and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – a loose band of former Soviet Union states – adding 18.000 and 17.000 new pilots respectively.
For the increase in technical positions Asia is expected to be the main driver. The coming 20 years approximately 238,000 new maintenance positions will be created in the region – again nearly 40% of the world’s total additional need. The demand for new technical skilled workers is expected to grow twice as fast in Asia as in Europe and America – where respectively 101,000 and 113,000 new technical positions will be created. Growth in technical positions will remain subdued in the former Soviet Union and Africa, according to the report.
