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From airlines to air traffic controllers and airplane manufacturers, 2024 was a year when the labor landscape was remade across a wide swath of the aviation industry. Change is still in the air, but workers, employers, and passengers hope the New Year brings a fresh start.In my role at Canadas largest airport, I have a close-up view of the changes washing across our industry, affecting millions of customers, workers, passengers, students, and family members, plus their companies, organizations, and communities. These are the four groups of workers who will feel the impact of the top labor issues I see reshaping North American aviation as we enter 2025.Tradespeople Technicians, engineers, welders machinists, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, and other skilled tradespeople have been in high demand globally for several years. This acute level contributes to delays, supply chain shortages, and a giant game of talent whack-a-mole. How does this game play out? First, worker shortages affect aircraft manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing, which are already struggling to fill demand for new planes. Many airlines cope by keeping their existing fleets in service longer, which, in turn, puts strain on the maintenance labor force. The U.S. aviation industry alone is reportedly short by hundreds of thousands of maintenance workers. Even the Air Force is struggling to hit its targets. In July, a short strike by WestJet mechanics disrupted travel on the Canada Day holiday, resulting in a 15.5% raise for union members, but not until after hundreds of flight cancellations affected 100,000 passengers. These shortages are likely to continue contributing to flight delays and cost increases.PilotsAir Canada recently headed off a pilots strike by offering a 42% raise over four years, becoming the latest North American airline after United, American, Southwest, Alaska, Jetblue, Spirit, and Delta to provide big increases for the people who fly the planes. The fallout from a strike at Canadas flagship airline would have been enormous and the United States would have felt it, too. The airlines Toronto hub hosts the worlds top U.S. preclearance facility, making it a critical gateway for Canadians and connections from international destinations. The story behind every airlines pilot negotiations is a global shortage predating COVID-19, and the gaps are getting wider. Management consultants at Oliver Wyman believe global aviation will be short 80,000 pilots by 2032, with North America particularly challenged.The shortages will almost certainly put upward pressure on labor costs and fares. They have also been connected to other post-pandemic disruptions, including the regional connectivity crisis in the United States and Canada, where airlines have been choosing to fly fewer narrow-body flights to smaller airports to save their pilots for larger planes and more profitable routes. Theyve also been tied to the struggles of budget airlines, which are simultaneously blamed for exacerbating the shortages while struggling to minimize costs as their business models require.Entry-level workersGround handling and retail workers were among those hardest hit by the pandemic layoffs, and they tended to move on to other jobs quickly. Unfortunately, our industry found it tough to entice them back. In 2022, service workers rallied across the United States to draw attention to their pay and working conditions, calling for legislation to raise minimum wages for aviation work. Here in Canada, airport authorities are more likely to be living-wage employers but have no legislative power to mandate better salaries for workers at the companies and agencies that use the airport as a place of business, many of which warn about passing higher labor costs on to consumers. What airports can do is get creative about how we encourage these partners to invest in their workforces. For example, Toronto Pearson recently instituted the Pearson Standard, which outlines high service expectations for partners and can incent better conditions for their workers, such as increased training, more competitive pay, and more attention paid to health and safety. We have also built a cross-employer platform, Pearson Works, to promote job opportunities and help workers advance their careers.Air traffic controllersLike pilots, air traffic controllers were laid off in large numbers in the pandemics early days. In jobs where safety is paramount, it takes time for authorities to train and evaluate replacements. Despite a surge of post-pandemic hiring, the U.S. Federal Airport Administration remains 3,000 controllers or 20% short of its staffing targets, causing U.S. flight delays and staff burnout. Britains ATC provider, Nats, recently had to implement flight restrictions on a peak travel day at Gatwick and Heathrow airports (with chaotic repercussions) because it was unable to properly staff its towers. Nav Canada has acknowledged similar issues, with the province of British Columbia particularly affected. In Australia, an overworked air traffic controller was recently found asleep on the job after a string of overnight shifts, raising obvious and unacceptable safety concerns. Until resolved, such staffing shortages have the potential to cause delays across the network, especially during peak hours.These arent the only talent issues in our industry, but they are some of the most consequential. From cockpit to hangar and from terminal to tower, aviations labor landscape continues to be remade.
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