The crisis that aviation has been dreading for a long time is finally here: the shortage of maintenance workforce in the aviation sector, as most of them are retiring and not being replaced readily due to low interest in the industry. However, artificial intelligence (AI) can provide a solution for this issue, according to global software provider IFS.
The whitepaper released by the IFS, titled ‘Combatting the MRO brain drain in commercial and defense aviation,’ provides insight on the challenges faced by maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) organizations. The whitepaper identifies a very critical issue, which is the lack of a skilled workforce: an aging population.
The report unveils another alarming figure: during the period before COVID-19, around 35 percent of commercial aviation maintenance workers were aged between 55 and 64 years. This stat indicates that a good fraction of skilled workers were heading towards retirement.
The pandemic Solitary disruption heightened this already existing issue. The report notes, “The obstacles MRO organizations were grappling with pre-pandemic emerged once the world opened for business again. Currently, the mechanics’ population between the ages of 18 and 30 is a single-digit percentage.”
Recruitment Issues: The Wage Conflict
The aviation companies have been struggling to compete across sectors for new recruits who can fill in entry-level positions. IFS highlights how a lag in shift remuneration places the whole aviation sector on the back foot when trying to compete with other industries, especially for inflexible and unattractive shifts.
This payment inequality, alongside the rigor of the work, makes retention, let alone attraction, of the upcoming skilled workforce virtually impossible.
The AI Advantage: Closing the Experience Gap
The IFS report highlights that the simple answer to the problem of contractor’ shortage—hiring more novice-level contractors—is not a sufficient approach. For MRO organizations, the answer to the labor shortage phenomenon is not as straightforward as replacing seasoned technicians with novice ones,” it states.
The primary concern can be explained through the lens of experience. “More seasoned technicians are far more effective at troubleshooting due to their almost instinctive grasp of the complex solutions required for various issues. This allows them to solve myriad problems expeditiously and ensure the repairs are performed in an orderly manner.”
In comparison, “junior technicians do not have an adequate level of experience and knowledge, so they often attempt to address the problems with the aircraft by following some procedures that they have not been taught, requiring assistance and checking several guides and resources before getting useful help from other colleagues. This makes their problem-solving processes more inefficient and takes a significant amount of time.”
AI as a Helping Hand: A New Approach
The report underlines AI technologies can assist in alleviating the paradox of over-skill and under-skill at the same time. “The current challenge of labor shortage facing MRO will not disappear on its own. MROs need to care and understand the incoming generation of technicians to improve their onboarding and retention rates,” argues the report.
IFS believes the most effective approach to engage and keep younger employees is to equip them with the right technology tools.
“The new generation of workers is looking for more tools than just a torque wrench or even a borescope. We now live in a digital world—they have AR and VR on their personal devices, and they have AI assistants on their new phones.”
