Don’t take this personally, but if you are reading this, there is a good chance you will retire in the near future. It’s simply a matter of demographics. Based on this magazine’s own survey data, more than three quarters of readers are over 50. Retirements plague the aviation industry; over the next two decades, operators, maintainers and manufacturers will need to fill the experienced work gaps.
That’s not all. Businesses will need to fill new positions created by expanding markets. Boeing’s 2015 Pilot and Technician Outlook, forecasted that 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.
The Aeronautical Repair Station Association’s (ARSA) 2015 Global Fleet and MRO Market Economic Assessment, shows the demand for both cargo and passenger services will grow steadily over the next two decades. Pushed by technological enhancements and the replacement of aging fleets, maintenance providers will need well-trained men and women to keep pace.
Whatever the future holds, the industry must build its workforce now. Before you take your skills and experience down the golden road — help establish a pipeline of young talent. How can you (daydreaming about fishing trips or golf outings) help?
Don’t undervalue your knowledge or services — someone is interested in what you do and how to do it right. Recognize talent wherever you find it. Encourage and praise younger folks for any interest expressed or shown in technology of any kind. Acknowledge and talk about the good in aviation and your career, not merely your dreams of retirement.
Reach out to elementary, middle and high schools as well as technical colleges and universities. Visit classes, bring examples of your work and show off your skills. Go to career days, host field trips and give demonstrations. Do what it takes to engender the enthusiasm you experienced in your earlier years by being around younger people and their curiosity — it takes one person’s interest to spark a protégé.
Get involved with allies fighting for better workforce training policies. In 2015, ARSA and its colleagues at the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) joined the STEM Education Coalition’s Leadership Council. Enhancing science, technology, engineering and math education has become a popular cause over the past several years, and policymakers have to recognize that technical skills are STEM skills. You and your company can also take part; learn how at www.stemedcoalition.org.
Take some lessons from our allies at the Manufacturing Institute (www.themanufacturinginstitute.org) whose Dream It. Do It. initiative provides a variety of guides and resources.
Keep in mind you are doing this to find your replacement! Maintenance providers have struggled for years to find and retain qualified workers, but need to be more aggressive than ever to build healthy benches of technical talent. ARSA launched AeroJobs.org, a web-based recruitment tool that will help the aviation community find technically skilled applicants, but it is your knowledge, skills and talent that keep the aircraft safely circling the globe.
You may have earned a retirement — but there’s work to be done before you follow the golden path.
Brett Levanto is vice president communications for the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA). He graduated from the George Washington University in 2004 and earned a Master of Public Policy from the College of William and Mary in 2009. For more information visit www.arsa.org.
