Flatlining in Flight: Why Western Europe’s MRO Market Is Stalling and What Comes Next
Let’s Start with the Numbers The global MRO market is growing. India is forecast to grow at 12.1% annually. Eastern Europe will double its MRO value by 2034. Africa is set to break $4.5 billion in spend. Western Europe is not expected to grow at all. According to Oliver Wyman’s 2024–2034 forecast, Western Europe’s MRO […]
Retiring Late, Reacting Slow: How Delayed Aircraft Retirement Is Stretching the MRO Workforce
A Quiet Crisis at the Edge of the Apron Across the industry, new aircraft orders are making headlines. India, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe are racing toward expansion. The future looks fast. But at the quieter end of the ramp, another trend is unfolding. Aircrafts are sticking around longer than planned. Retirement timelines are […]
Paper Skies: How Licensing, Borders and Background Checks Are Slowing Down Aviation’s Technical Workforce
Global aviation MRO is already under pressure from rising demand and depleted technicians. Yet an equally stubborn challenge is tightening its grip: cross-border licensing friction. In a market that should be defined by mobility, fragmented regulations, sluggish validation processes, and bureaucratic hurdles are grounding skilled engineers before they even reach the hangar floor. According to […]
Airborne Expertise: Why Technical Freelancers Are Aviation’s Secret Weapon
The aviation MRO industry is no stranger to workforce challenges. Demand is rising, fleet complexity is increasing, and the permanent labour pipeline isn’t keeping pace. Yet, amid these pressures, a new strategy is emerging among forward-thinking MRO operators: the deployment of highly skilled technical freelancers. Rather than relying solely on traditional hiring models, aviation businesses […]
Skills – the final frontier for aviation?
Aside from the similarity with that immortal opening line from “Star Trek”, one could argue that the dire need for skills within the aviation industry remains its biggest challenge, more so perhaps than the development of scalable, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In the first of a series of articles looking at the global skills landscape, […]
