The human factor: inside the aviation talent crisis

Deglamourisation, poaching and persuasion: Jake Nelson delves into exactly how the talent crisis reached its current tooth-and-nail tipping point and what the horizon holds

Huge queues at airports, cancelled flights, regional areas cut off from the outside world – these are increasingly the norm for Australia’s aviation sector. While airlines are spending big on new airframes, there’s a significant problem: you can have the most high-capacity, technologically-advanced aircraft in the world, but even with all the computerised navigation and flight systems money can buy, it’s not going anywhere without a pilot.

Unfortunately, pilots – and cabin crew, ground workers, air traffic controllers, and other vital aviation staff – are in short supply lately. The Australian aviation industry is in the grips of a critical skills shortage, with the ongoing impacts of the pandemic exposing and adding to what was already a budding talent crisis affecting just about every corner of the nation’s skies.