Pilot & Technician Outlook

Burgeoning demand for highly trained personnel

As global economies expand and airlines take delivery of tens of thousands of new commercial jetliners over the next 20 years, the demand for personnel to fly and maintain those airplanes will be unprecedented.

The 2012 Boeing Pilot & Technician Outlook projects a need for approximately one million new commercial airline pilots and maintenance technicians by 2031, including 460,000 new commercial airline pilots and 601,000 maintenance technicians.

Meeting this demand will require airplane manufacturers and the commercial aviation industry to rely more heavily on new digital technology, including online and mobile computing, to meet the learning requirements of a new generation. The growing diversity of aviation personnel also demands highly qualified, motivated, and knowledgeable instructors with cross-cultural and cross-generational skills. Training programs will need to focus on enabling airplane operators to gain optimum advantage of the innovative features of the latest generation of airplanes, such as the 787 Dreamliner.

Pilot outlook

A pilot shortage has already arisen in many regions of the world. Airlines across the globe are expanding their fleets and flight schedules to meet surging demand in emerging markets. Asia in particular is experiencing delays and operational interruptions due to pilot scheduling constraints.

The Asia Pacific region continues to present the largest projected growth in pilot demand, with a requirement for 185,600 new pilots. China has the largest demand within the region, with a need for 71,300 pilots. Europe will require 100,900 pilots, North America 69,000, Latin America 42,000, the Middle East 36,100, Africa 14,500, and the CIS 11,900.

Technician outlook

As new-generation airplanes come to dominate the fleet over the next 20 years, airplane reliability will improve and maintenance check intervals will lengthen. Although this trend will moderate demand growth, the requirement for maintenance personnel will continue to expand with the size of the global fleet. Emerging markets that currently recruit maintenance technicians from outside the region will have to develop a foundation for training qualified technical personnel from within the local workforce.

The need for maintenance personnel is expected to grow most rapidly in the Asia Pacific region, which will require 243,500 new technical personnel. China's requirement will be the largest, with an expected need for 99,400 technicians. Airlines in Europe will require 129,700, North America 92,500, the Middle East 53,700, Latin America 47,300, the CIS 18,100, and Africa 16,200.