Engineering News reports that the representative body of the worldwide airline industry, namely the International Air Transport Association (Iata), has announced that it has extended the deadline for its Global Skills Survey until 24 June.
So far, more than 400 air transport industry professionals have participated in the survey. Iata sees the survey as being vitally important for the future of the sector. For example, discussions at the recent Iata Ground Handling Conference (concerned with the handling of commercial aircraft at airports) revealed an “alarming shortage of talent” in that sector. Iata Flight and Technical Operations director Stuart Fox warned: “We need to act now to address these shortages and guarantee the sustainability of our industry.” Preliminary findings from the survey so far included that 50% of respondents reported that training new employees was a challenge because of the time and resources required, while 48% were concerned about the uncertainty in the aviation sector. Anticipating and planning demand for services was a challenge for 48% of respondents. Job market competitiveness, regarding the recruitment and retention of staff, was a challenge for 44%. Fox directly appealed to aviation professionals in SA to take part in the survey. “As a professional from South Africa, I would be very interested to see how the skills gap is perceived in your part of the world,” he stated.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News
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