Yahoo Finance Cheap summer holidays at risk from engineer shortfall
Cheap summer holidays are facing a new threat as the aviation industry grapples with a critical shortage of engineers.
Companies are increasingly concerned that passenger jets are at risk of going out of service for months at a time because of the shortfall, with Boeing and Airbus estimating that more than 600,000 engineers need to be hired over the next 20 years to keep up with demand.
If this leads to a restriction in the number of planes – and passenger seats – it risks driving up ticket prices.
More than a quarter of engineers are expected to retire over the next decade, according to recruitment consultancy AeroProfessional.
Sam Sprules, managing director at the headhunter, said: “The shortfall in aircraft engineers is already impacting output and it’s only going to get worse for the foreseeable future.”
Lower pay than other comparable industries is part of the problem, experts say, while it can also take up to seven years to complete the necessary training.
In the UK, Brexit means that aircraft engineer licences issued by the UK authorities are no longer valid or recognised on the Continent.
This also means UK aviation businesses have very restricted access to engineers from the European Union.
An ageing global fleet means that a greater amount of servicing is required on aircraft. AeroProfessional estimates that maintenance-intensive aircraft in the global fleet will not reduce significantly until 2040.
Airbus estimates that the number of annual passengers worldwide will double to 9bn by 2041. This will require 2 million new personnel, of which 34pc – equivalent to 680,000 – will be engineers. Boeing estimates an extra 610,000 maintenance technicians will be required.
In its 2022 outlook, the American planemaker said: “Technicians are critical to operational safety, and they play a key role in supporting the industry’s recovery. But in some cases they’re spread thin.
“They are leaving the workforce through retirement and natural attrition, and retirements will accelerate over the next five to ten years. All the while, fleets are expected to continue to grow. In mature aviation markets, the average age of the technician workforce keeps rising, while the number of new entrants to the profession tapers off.”
Addressing a gender imbalance in the aviation engineering sector would help the labour shortfall over the next 20 years, AeroProfessional said.
Just 2.6pc of aircraft engineers are women, according to a report by US organisation Women in Aviation International.
AeroProfessional said: “A 2017 study from Microsoft found that one of the main reasons girls choose not to follow careers in STEM is because they lack a female role model.
“It’s clear that underlying problems in gender equality must be addressed and that the industry must continue to seek ways to keep building awareness and encourage female talent into the industry.”
