MRO Technician Shortage Drives New Training and Recruiting Strategies

A booming market is forecast to boost maintenance, repair and overhaul business over the next two decades, but the industry might struggle to meet demand if the pipeline of new maintenance technicians cannot keep pace. In response, stakeholders across the aftermarket are ramping up efforts to increase the supply of technicians and accelerate training.

The Aviation Week Network’s 2025 Commercial Aviation Fleet & MRO Forecast predicts demand for $1.4 trillion in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) spending during the next decade, increasing the global need for aviation maintenance technicians (AMT). Airbus’ 2024-43 Global Services Forecast projects a need for 690,000 new AMTs over the next 20 years while Boeing’s 2024-43 Pilot and Technician Outlook forecasts 716,00. Both OEMs anticipate a particularly strong need for AMTs in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and North America. 

• North America is expected to be 20% short of technician needs by 2028
• Instructor and examiner shortage is exacerbating training pipeline challenges

In its outlook, Boeing noted that insufficient training capacity to overcome the personnel shortage and the lag time required to bring new staff up to speed will be major challenges in meeting this demand. These training issues have been highlighted for two consecutive years by the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC), which releases an annual Pipeline Report that tracks how the North America region is meeting AMT demand.

Released in late September, the 2024 ATEC-Oliver Wyman Pipeline Report estimates a 9% shortfall of new technicians in North America this year based on commercial aviation’s projected demand. The report forecasts that by 2028 this shortage will reach nearly 20%, or about 25,000 certificated mechanics.

“When we spoke to operators and MROs, [they said] it takes 3-5 years for a new technician to be as productive as an experienced one,” Livia Hayes, director at Oliver Wyman Vector, said during the report’s release luncheon on Sept. 19. “If you add in that juniority impact, you get another 4% shortage on top of that. So this gap is expected to persist throughout the decade, first worsening before it gets a little bit better.”

Although AMT school enrollment is rising in North America—last year it was up 6%, and new mechanic certificates increased 32%—ATEC believes enrollment must grow 15% every year to keep up with demand and close the shortage gap. Two major bottlenecks are the dearth of AMT school instructors and designated maintenance examiners (DME), who are licensed to perform the FAA’s required testing for graduates to receive their airframe and powerplant licenses. ATEC estimates that North America needs 30% more DMEs just to account for the current flow of AMT school graduates.

In March, Rob Cush, legislative affairs director for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, told Aviation Week that the U.S. had about 700 DMEs before the COVID-19 pandemic, but this number shrank to 67 and is now estimated by ATEC to be about 250. Twenty percent of AMT schools that ATEC surveyed reported that this shortage is affecting their ability to certify graduates.

“It’s crazy,” Cush said. “You’re asking kids to wait months upon months and to travel to neighboring states because there’s no DME in their location.” He added that the situation is exacerbated because DMEs are prohibited from crossing state lines to test students.

INDUSTRY EFFORTS

ATEC is working with the FAA on draft guidance to create a program in which Part 147 schools and certified industry partners could manage and conduct airframe and powerplant testing. ATEC has also asked the agency to remove geographic limitations to help alleviate these bottlenecks. To address the instructor shortage, the organization this year launched ATEC Academy, which provides training that helps aviation industry professionals transition to the teaching environment at AMT schools.

Across the Atlantic, European aviation training provider Resource Group is increasing the continent’s AMT learning and testing opportunities. The company is expanding its remote offerings so students located anywhere can learn at their own pace and prepare to test for Part 66 aircraft maintenance licenses through the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and UK Civil Aviation Authority.

Several MRO companies have launched training programs aimed at recruiting and preparing local workers. In January, Embraer opened its Guiding and Inspiring Future Technicians (GIFT) training program in Sorocaba, Brazil. GIFT provides students with classroom training at local colleges and hands-on training at the airframer’s facilities. Embraer says the program was driven by high demand from customers requesting more maintenance lines, which requires additional labor.

In India, where large new aircraft orders are spurring efforts to expand the country’s MRO capabilities, OEMs are investing in local training efforts. Boeing recently partnered with MRO provider AI Engineering Services Ltd. to provide training materials, aids and instructor guidance to boost the company’s technician training programs. Airbus teamed with Indian MRO provider GMR Aero Technic to open a new aircraft maintenance training school in Hyderabad in January.

Africa, too, is building up its MRO and training capacity. The Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority (CCAA) in 2022 launched its first university-level aviation training program, a nine-month course on aircraft maintenance and recycling. French MRO provider Vallair signed a memorandum of understanding with the CCAA in July on collaborative training programs and bilateral student exchanges to increase Cameroon’s MRO workforce. Last year, Jordanian MRO provider Joramco opened a maintenance training school in Ghana in partnership with Aerojet Aviation. As part of its initiative to strengthen MRO capabilities in Africa, Airbus is working to create a licensing curriculum that is trusted across the continent to enable aviation professionals trained in one African country to work in another.

In the U.S. last May, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ MRO subsidiary MHIRJ launched a career upskilling program based at its facility in Bridgeport, West Virginia. The program, MHIRJ Academy, seeks to recruit and train the hundreds of additional technicians the company needs for the work in its pipeline. The tuition-free, eight-week program pays participants while they undergo training in aviation sheet metal. If students pass the course requirements, MHIRJ offers them a job.

MHIRJ Chief Operating Officer Ismail Mokabel tells Aviation Week that the academy’s local recruiting model has been crucial to achieving high retention and engagement, since participants are looking to build a new career locally instead of opting for temporary jobs. As of MHIRJ Academy’s first graduation ceremony in June, the program had nearly 400 applicants, more than 300 of whom heard about the academy from current employees.

U.S. regional carrier PSA Airlines also revamped its in-house training program to appeal to younger generations and speed up productivity of its new hires. PSA uses what it calls a progressive training model, whereby new hires spend at least one month on the shop floor to become familiar with aircraft components and concepts before they start general familiarization training in the classroom. After that, the training prioritizes subjects based on where PSA sees the most technical issues, such as pneumatic bleed leaks and door pressurization problems.

“I’m only investing in that student as much as they need to be proficient at that given point,” says James Ellis, PSA’s assistant director of maintenance training. “I’m not giving them more information than they need to know.”

The airline has also rolled out digital training materials, such as a video platform and a virtual 360-deg. tool, that allow trainees to navigate around an aircraft to study components. Ellis says the progressive training model and new digital tools have reduced post-training employment attrition by more than 20% year-over-year.