Aircraft manufacturing giant, Boeing, has predicted that about 1.5 million new pilots and new technicians would be needed in the next 20 years in the global aviation industry.
Boeing made the prediction during its 2016 Pilot and Technician Outlook. In its seventh year, the outlook is a respected industry study, which forecasts the 20-year demand for crews to support the world’s growing commercial airplane fleet.
The aircraft manufacturer forecasts that between 2016 and 2035, the commercial aviation industry will require approximately 617, 000 new pilots, 679, 000 maintenance technicians and 814,000 cabin crew.
The 2016 outlook shows a growth of 10.5 per cent for pilots over the 2015 outlook and 11.3 per cent for maintenance technicians.
Boeing said new pilot demand would be driven by new airplane deliveries and fleet mix, while new technician demand would be primarily driven by fleet growth.
The Vice President, Boeing Flight Services, Sherry Carbary,said: “The Pilot and Technician Outlook have become a resource for the industry to determine demand for successful airline operations. Cabin crew is an integral part of operating an airline, and while Boeing does not train cabin crew like pilots and technicians, we believe the industry can use these numbers for planning purposes.”
According to the airplane manufacturing company the outlook represents a global requirement for about 31,000 new pilots, 35,000 new technicians and 40,000 cabin crew annually. Projected demand for new pilots, technicians and cabin crew by global region for the next 20 years is approximately.
Boeing said the world would need nearly 1.5 million pilots and technicians and a breakdown of the figure region by region showed that Asia Pacific has the highest forecast with 248,000 pilots and 268,000 new technicians, followed by Europe with 104,000 pilots and 118,000 new technicians and North America with 112,000 pilots and 127,000 new technicians.
It also predicted 51,000 pilots and 50,000 new technicians Latin America, Middle East 58,000 pilots and 66,000 NT, Africa 22,000 NP and 24, 000 NT while Russia / CIS will require 22,000 NP and 26,000 NT by 2035.
