In an attempt to boost diversity in the sector, the UK Government announced new £750,000 funding to help deliver aviation outreach programmes targeting disadvantaged young people, including those from ethnic minorities. Reach for the Sky Challenge Fund has already delivered £2.5 million to 40 organisations and has reached over 100,000 young people across the country.

In a recent report by Deloitte, half of 32 airline CEOs worldwide stated that employee engagement, experience, and well-being are their top priorities for workforce and talent strategies, recognising that strong culture and leadership execution are inseparable in today’s environment.

In an inspiring story, a UK-based entrepreneur became a flight attendant at 57. A life-changing trip to Orlando encouraged Kulin to choose Virgin Atlantic over retirement. Citing life experience as the main factor in potential recruits, rival airline EasyJet launched a “returnship” campaign, with the express aim of recruiting over-50s to its cabin crew.

Highlighting current challenges in the industry, one of the three major airports serving New York City, New Jersey’s Newark Liberty Airport, faced delays for up to seven hours due to staffing shortages. Instead of fourteen controllers normally required on duty, the Airport had just three air traffic workers on Monday.

In a dramatic turn of events, more than 2,000 jobs are at risk at one of the UK’s largest aerospace plants. The Spirit AeroSystems factory in Belfast is being broken up by Airbus and Boeing as part of a complex takeover deal. There are growing concerns that over half of the factory workforce will be left out amid calls for the Government to intervene.

A great article by a human resources business partner at BGS highlights the importance of emotional resilience and interpersonal skills for aviation industry employees. Since challenging situations are common, maintaining composure and professionalism is key to effective problem-solving. Such soft skills are highly sought-after by employers in the industry.

As Global spending on digital technology integration is expected to reach $3.9 trillion by 2027, many giants in the aviation industry are actively looking for data science and analytics professionals. US-based aerospace and defense giant RTX Corp plans to hire 1,000 more people to its 7,000-strong workforce in India by 2027, while Boeing is hiring experts to apply AI and machine learning in MRO operations, enhancing efficiency and predictive maintenance.

To boost recruitment amid challenging times, the BBGA British Business and General Aviation Association urged aviation companies to allow more work experience placements to attract the next generation into the industry outside of commercial aviation during the recent annual conference.