The aviation maintenance industry must focus as much on retaining and developing its next generation of talent as it does on attracting people into the sector, according to an industry panel examining the future of the MRO workforce.
Bringing together professionals at different stages of their careers, the discussion – moderated by Frost & Sullivan’s Shantanu Gangakhedkar, principal aviation consultant and commercial aviation lead, highlighted changing expectations around career progression, workplace culture, technology and work-life balance – and questioned whether MRO has adapted quickly enough to compete for younger talent.
Fraser Currie, chief strategy and commercial officer of DAE Engineering, which owns MRO provider Joramco, argued that the workforce shortage should not have come as a surprise, with the industry discussing the issue for decades without always taking sufficient action.
“Companies haven't taken it seriously enough or been proactive enough,” he said. “We were talking about this 25 years ago.”
Joramco has responded by investing in its own training pipeline, combining two years of academic study with two years of practical hangar experience. Currie said developing people within an organisation also provides an opportunity to immerse trainees in its culture and ways of working from the outset.
“The industry needs to wake up and recognise that training and development are crucial,” he said. “You have to make an organisation somewhere people want to be.”
Paolo Monti, programme manager for advanced analytics and AI (big data) at Air France Industries KLM Engineering and Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) suggested the bigger challenge may increasingly be retention rather than recruitment.
While the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted training pipelines and exacerbated subsequent workforce shortages, Monti said aviation remains capable of attracting young people. Keeping them, however, requires employers to offer opportunities that extend beyond a conventional climb up the management ladder.
“You have to offer people a way forward,” he said. “That doesn't always mean becoming a leader. It can mean exploring their talents, learning new skills and making sure they don't get bored.”
Monti also argued that aviation has lost some of the mystique that once made it an obvious career choice for technically minded young people.
“Aviation used to have this magic – it was cool and special,” he said. “We need to give aviation back its aura.”
For Iffat Roslan, quality assurance engineer at Royal Brunei, making the return on the significant investment required to become an aviation engineer clearer could help attract new entrants. Once inside the industry, visible progression, mobility and mentorship become increasingly important.
“You want to know: where can I go, how can I move around the industry and how can I gain new skills?” he said. “Good mentorship makes people feel encouraged and supported from the very start.”
Roslan also highlighted work-life balance as an increasingly important consideration for younger employees.
Anthony Mannion, Principal Research Fellow from the Aviation Services Research Centre (ASRC) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) said those expectations are evolving alongside the technology entering the workplace. Automation, digitalisation, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are not simply tools for improving MRO productivity, he argued, but could also help make aviation maintenance more attractive to a generation accustomed to working with technology.
Research programmes that expose graduates to real-world MRO challenges - including opportunities to automate maintenance tasks - could provide an important bridge into the industry and allow young engineers to bring their enthusiasm for emerging technology with them.
Technology was a recurring theme when the panel considered what will define the MRO workforce over the next five years. Roslan pointed to technology making workflows more efficient, while Mannion highlighted automation and robotics and the skills required to work alongside them.
Monti agreed that technology and automation will reshape maintenance but stressed that the transformation must remain “people-centric”.
For Currie, however, the biggest change could be the influence wielded by the next generation itself.
He called for students and young professionals to be given “a more prominent role in steering groups and other industry forums”, allowing employers to hear directly how expectations are changing.
That engagement may need to begin long before people start making career decisions. Currie suggested aviation should be introduced to children as early as 10 to 12 years old, while Monti similarly argued that the industry needs to capture the fascination with aircraft many experience when they are young.
“If you don't listen, people won't join,” Currie said. “Give students a voice and let them help the industry understand how it needs to progress.”
With MRO facing continued pressure to secure sufficient skilled labour, the discussion suggested that attracting talent is only the beginning.
Clearer career pathways, meaningful training, mentorship, new technology and a workplace people actively want to remain part of will increasingly determine whether the industry can turn new recruits into its long-term workforce.
The panel discussion took place at the Aviation Week MRO Asia-Pacific 2026 event.
