Aviation Careers Outlook 2020

What will 2020 hold for our industry? Aviation can be very fickle, upset by aircraft failures, the world economy, passenger travel trends, training issues, climate change… ok, just about everything effects our industry. But we love it.

So, what is happening now and how does that extrapolate to the rest of 2020?  I don’t know, yep you heard it, I don’t.  I simply make educated projections based on what we know now and my 20-years in the industry.

You can also see a detailed outline of my projections in Australian Aviation Magazine - February 2020 edition.

Outlook

Pilot shortage - Boeing indicates big numbers still required: Boeing outlines all the numbers on their website “The 2019 Boeing Pilot & Technician Outlook".  There will still be pilot jobs in 20: The factors that compound pilotless aircraft are immense and regulatory governance and consumer buy-in are slow animals when it comes to safety.  Global and national economic messing about. Unrest in Hong Kong, 737 Max grounded, a protected US market and unravelling of the European Union. Watch this space.

Aviation Professional Roles

Thousands of aviation professionals faced redundancy in 2019 including the Virgin Group and Thomas Cook to name only two.  My contacts indicating more projected redundancies are in the pipeline in 2020. While moving overseas is not an option for all, it is a clear benefit of working within a global industry, consider your options broadly, corporate experience is indeed relevant to overseas roles and nothing is permanent.

Cabin Crew Roles

A steady intake of Cabin Crew opportunities are available across the globe. Currently open on our region are: Qatar, Jetstar, Cobham Aviation, Jetconnect, REX, Emirates and Etihad click here for direct links to Cabin Crew roles.  Becoming a member of Cabin Crew is often not restricted to citizenship so applying for a role with an International carrier can lead you to a life anywhere in the world, check it out.

Pilot Roles

The Aussie airline jobs market: Virgin Australia have had no mainline pilot recruitment for some months. The Qantas Group appear to be reorganising recruitment among it’s subsidiaries with Mainline internal pilot applications open only.  Regional airlines continue to recruit consistently. Cadetships: Most look set to re-open in 2020.  Some new low hours direct entry pilot roles are popping up (Cobham FIFO Dash8) as well in regional aviation.  General Aviation and Regional Flying: This is where the bulk of advertised roles continue to be consistent, check our AFAP for the most comprehensive list of these. Mainline Jet recruitment - Slow, with many waiting on our legacy carrier to reopen for external recruitment.

Overseas Pilot employment:  Qatar Airways are offering an excellent remuneration package and benefits. Korean Air and China Southern continue to offer the big $$. New player Bamboo Airways are offering unusual bonuses.  Hong Kong based airlines remains competitive even with the unrest.  The USA is still offering E3 visas to Australian pilots under our Free Trade Agreement to the Regional Airlines such as TSA and Gojet - contact New Journey USA for more info. They are the front-runners with a streamlined recruitment process and systems in place to support pilot transition. Check out Aviation Job Search for current jobs.

This industry can change on a dime, in two weeks time we could be in a totally different situation so staying up to date is essential in far reaching, interesting, diverse and changeable industry.

Here’s to your career taking off in 2020.

Kirsty

Aviation Coach: www.pinstripesolutions.com

Author: www.kirstyanneferguson.com The Albino Chameleon - The Things That Make You 'You' Can become Your SUPER POWER