Report: 1.5M New Aviation Professionals Needed by 2034

Hundreds of thousands of pilots, technicians, and cabin crew will be needed to replace retiring workers.

Zach Vasile

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at 09:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

Pilots in an aircraft flight deck. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

A new CAE report projects a global need for approximately 1.5 million new civil aviation professionals by 2034 to accommodate rising air travel demand and replace retiring staff.
This critical demand includes 267,000 new pilots, 347,000 maintenance technicians, 678,000 cabin crew, and 71,000 air traffic controllers, with specific needs varying across regions.
Airlines and regulatory bodies must proactively invest in attracting, training, and retaining talent, emphasizing innovative and effective training methods, to address this shortage and ensure the industry's safe expansion.

See a mistake? Contact us.

A new report suggests that about 1.5 million new aviation professionals will be needed worldwide by 2034, likely increasing pressure on airlines and regulatory bodies to recruit and effectively train workers.

CAE, a Canadian technology company specializing in flight simulators and pilot training services, projects 1,465,000 pilots, technicians, air crew, air traffic controllers, and others will be needed over the next nine years to meet rising demand for air travel and replace the hundreds of thousands of aviation professionals set to retire or leave the industry.