Thelife- United Airlines is hiring over 7,000 aircraft maintenance technicians amid a looming mechanic shortage.
- Consulting firm Oliver Wyman estimates the industry will need between 43,000 and 47,000 new technicians by 2027.
United Airlines is taking a proactive approach to the looming aircraft mechanic shortage.
On May 3, Kate Gebo, United's EVP of human resources and labor relations, told media the company is planning to hire over 7,000 aviation maintenance technicians "over the next couple of years" in preparation for a potential lull in available workers.
"Let me be honest, in this highly competitive job market, our biggest challenge has been hiring for this core function," she said, noting the roles do not require a college degree.
Since January, United has hired 850 technicians — which is more than half of what the company hired in 2022.
To create an even larger pool, the carrier has launched a 36-month internal maintenance program called Calibrate. Currently, the apprenticeship is only available to current employees but will soon be open to the public, Gebo told media.
While United is on an aggressive hiring campaign, Gebo said the move is not to address a current shortage of qualified mechanics — but rather to prevent one from happening.
"Our workforce is very senior, and about 40 to 50% of our technicians are retirement eligible," she told media. "Having said that, because there is not a mandatory retirement age, a lot of them are staying with us and they enjoy the growth that we're experiencing. "
According to Boeing's Pilot and Technician Outlook published in July 2022, the planemaker expects the industry will need 610,000 technicians by 2041. This is 8,000 more than the estimated 602,000 pilots needed.
A recent report from consulting firm Oliver Wyman projects the shortage will start occurring this year.
Specifically, the study estimates the aviation industry will have a shortage of 12,000 to 18,0000 technicians in 2023, blaming retiring Baby Boomers and a low supply of Generation Z workers.
This could increase to over 47,000 workers — a 27% deficit — by 2027, though the firm says its most realistic estimate is about 43,000.
The lack of mechanics is expected to have effects similar to the pilot shortage, which has caused thousands of flight cancelations and forced airlines like American and United to ground regional aircraft.
"The imbalance of supply and demand will persist and even worsen over the next 10 years," the firm said, emphasizing airline profitability could be at risk.
However, Jonas Murby, a principal at AeroDynamic Advisory, says the industry is already in the thick of it.
"We started seeing it right before COVID, but then we didn't see it because there was such a low level of activity during the pandemic," he explained. "But COVID exacerbated everything because workers retired, and some of the young people got furloughed and then got a job elsewhere."
Murby further said the lack of workers is likely to impact operations. But, he explained regional airlines will feel the impact more quickly as many mechanics see smaller carriers as a gateway to mainline ones like United.
A similar problem has been exhausting the regional pilot supply, and one way airlines have attracted more talent is by increasing wages.
Murby says the same may need to happen for mechanics — but it won't be easy.
"The problem is now that cost structure is up due to the pilot salaries," he explained. "Do the airlines really have the ability to raise the salaries for the technicians?"
In addition to raising pay, Murby said companies could follow China's lead and automate as much as possible.
"I recently spoke with aircraft maintenance company Gameco in Guangzhou and they said they automated the entire paint stripping line just because of the mechanic shortage," he told Insider. "I think this type of automation can really help increase the productivity of the existing people."