A JetBlue maintenance technician, near an Airbus A320, in New York on March 4, 2024 (AFP/Archives/Charly TRIBALLEAU)
“I want to start in maintenance, then work my way up”: Fariha Rahman, a 17-year-old New York high school student, is preparing for a career in aeronautics and, more specifically, in the crucial branch of aircraft maintenance, affected by a “sustainable” shortage.
A path for the future, according to the 2024-2034 study by the firm Oliver Wyman: the global fleet should grow by a third by 2034, to exceed 36,400 commercial aircraft.
In its wake, the maintenance, repair and general overhaul (MRO) activity is expected to grow by nearly 20%, to $124 billion.
The approximately 4,000 maintenance companies in the United States employ nearly 185,000 aircraft maintenance technicians (AMTs) and engineers, or about 44 percent of the global total, according to the Civil Aircraft Repair Stations Association (ARSA).
But the sector suffers from a “shortage” of qualified labor, estimated at 24,000 technicians in North America and which is expected to reach nearly 40,000 by 2028, notes Oliver Wyman.
Some 185,000 aircraft maintenance technicians are employed in the United States (AFP/Archives/Charly TRIBALLEAU)
The pandemic has caused many baby boomers to retire and others to change jobs.
A shortage of personnel that the renowned aviation high school, located on Long Island near New York, will not be able to fill despite its 2,000 students.
“I don’t think that Aviation High Schools will have the capacity to train enough people,” Steven Jackson, director of the specialized high school, the oldest in the United States, told AFP. “We are one of the biggest schools and it will be difficult for us to go beyond that.”
– “Great industry” –
The school, one of 28 certified by the United States Civil Aviation Agency (FAA), trains future AMTs who can work directly after high school, or continue on to university.
“The job market is good right now and salaries are quite high so, at the moment, more are going to work,” according to Mr. Jackson.
JetBlue maintenance employees, during a Business Discovery Week for high school students, March 4, 2024 in New York (AFP/Archives/Charly TRIBALLEAU)
“Working in mechanics offers so many opportunities, being able to meet new people,” Fariha Rahman tells AFP, very enthusiastic, in a JetBlue maintenance hangar, during a Business Discovery Week.
“It’s a great industry. There are so many different jobs, so many social benefits, opportunities for discounts on flights and other products,” adds her friend Gaby Moreno, 15 years old.
According to Pascal Fabre, sector specialist at AlixPartners, one of the “challenges is the workforce and the training of maintenance technicians, which must be accelerated”.
To boost the attractiveness of aviation maintenance, Congress passed a law in 2018 allowing the FAA to provide ad hoc subsidies.
Boeing 737 MAXs at the aircraft manufacturer’s factory in Renton (Washington State), March 25, 2024 (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Archives/STEPHEN BRASHEAR)
Thus, 13.5 million dollars were allocated at the beginning of March to thirty-two schools, including twenty specializing in AMT training.
According to the regulator, around 20,000 fewer people work in aircraft maintenance compared to pre-pandemic.
“Because these jobs are fundamental” for the functioning of the airline sector, a “sustainable shortage could limit the growth of the industry” as a whole, warns Oliver Wyman.
– “Accelerated” training –
In its 2023-2042 outlook, Boeing forecasts that demand for qualified personnel will remain “strong”, with a need for 690,000 new maintenance employees in global commercial aviation (planes with more than thirty seats) over this period.
The MRO sector “is under capacity, maintenance slots in hangars are in high demand, especially since with the delays in deliveries from aircraft manufacturers, we are flying older aircraft for longer, which require more maintenance”, points out Mr. Fabre.
An Airbus employee performs leak checks on an A350, in the Bouguenais factory (western France), February 29, 2024 (AFP/Archives/Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS)
Manufacturers Boeing and Airbus are fully booked until almost the end of the decade and are accumulating delays.
But airlines are increasing orders, eager to meet the strong demand from travelers and to have a fleet that consumes less fuel.
“Pressure to produce and retirements may have contributed to some of the quality control issues plaguing the sector,” notes Oliver Wyman.
According to several experts, these departures have led to a loss of transfer of know-how between old and new technicians.
The Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 which lost a cap holder in flight, photographed in Portland, Oregon on January 23, 2024 (AFP/Archives/Patrick T. Fallon)
Over the past year, Boeing has suffered numerous production problems and incidents, culminating in early January with a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 losing a cap holder in flight.
This accumulation caused the departure of the aircraft manufacturer’s boss Dave Calhoun, scheduled for the end of 2024, and the management reshuffle.
Mr. Calhoun was appointed to turn around Boeing after the crash of two 737 MAX 8s, due to design defects, in 2018 and 2019 (346 deaths).
United Airlines is also in the sights of the FAA, which is reviewing its safety procedures after several incidents in recent weeks.
© 2024 AFP
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