Alican Yarıcı
Jan 28, 2026
While pilot shortages continue to dominate headlines, airlines and regulators are increasingly warning that aircraft engineer and maintenance staff shortages may pose an even greater long-term operational risk to global aviation.
As fleets expand and aircraft become more technologically complex, the demand for licensed aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) and highly skilled technicians is accelerating faster than the available supply.
Maintenance Capacity Under Pressure
Airlines worldwide report growing difficulty in staffing:
Line maintenance operations
Base maintenance checks
Engine and component overhaul facilities
Avionics and composite repair teams
Unlike pilots, engineers require longer qualification timelines, extensive on-type experience, and strict regulatory licensing — making rapid workforce expansion extremely difficult.
Several operators have already cited maintenance staffing constraints as a cause of:
Aircraft groundings
Delayed returns from heavy checks
Extended AOG (Aircraft on Ground) events
Reduced operational resilience during disruptions
Fleet Growth Meets Technical Complexity
The challenge is amplified by the modern fleet mix. New-generation aircraft such as the A320neo, B737 MAX, B787 and A350 introduce:
Advanced avionics and flight control systems
High-voltage electrical architectures
Composite-heavy structures
More software-driven fault diagnosis
These aircraft require engineers with specialised type ratings and continuous upskilling — increasing training demand at the same time as retirements accelerate.
Retirement Wave Accelerates the Gap
A significant portion of the global aircraft maintenance workforce is approaching retirement age. Industry data suggests that a large percentage of licensed engineers will leave the workforce by the early 2030s, with insufficient numbers entering to replace them.
Unlike pilot cadet programmes, many regions lack:
Structured engineering pipelines
Financial support for licensing
Clear career progression visibility for young technicians
This has resulted in a growing skills gap that cannot be closed quickly.
Global Competition for Engineers
The shortage has triggered intense global competition for experienced engineers, with airlines and MROs offering:
Signing bonuses
Faster licence conversions
Type-rating sponsorships
International relocation packages
Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, in particular, are aggressively recruiting licensed engineers to support rapid fleet expansion and hub growth.
Technology Helps — But Can’t Replace Engineers
Digital maintenance tools, predictive analytics, and AI-driven health monitoring are helping improve efficiency. However, industry experts agree that technology supplements engineers — it does not replace them.
Certifying repairs, releasing aircraft to service, and managing complex fault scenarios still require human judgement, experience, and regulatory accountability.
Training and Retention Become Strategic Priorities
Airlines and MROs are increasingly shifting focus from short-term recruitment to long-term sustainability, investing in:
Apprenticeship and trainee engineer programmes
Early aircraft type exposure
Digital and simulator-based maintenance training
Improved work-life balance and roster stability
Organisations that fail to address engineer retention risk finding themselves with aircraft — but no qualified personnel to keep them flying.
Outlook
As aviation enters its next growth cycle, aircraft engineers are emerging as a strategic workforce rather than a back-office function. Without sufficient investment in training, licensing, and career development, engineer shortages could become one of the primary constraints on airline growth over the next decade.
For aspiring engineers, the message is clear: demand is strong, opportunities are global, and skilled maintenance professionals will be indispensable to the future of aviation.