To all who say that aviation is dead, no it is not. It is just sleeping. The airline industry will rebound under new protocols and procedures. In a study made by aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the world will need 903,000 flight attendants within the next twenty years. According to a forecast by Boeing, the airline industry on the long run remains robust amidst the covid-19 pandemic which is basically the worst crisis in aviation history. This study is also based on the assumption that air travel demand will return to pre-pandemic or 2019 levels in the next few years.
Aside from 903,000 flight attendants, the Boeing forecasts that 763,000 new civil aviation pilots and 739,000 new maintenance technicians will be needed.
The breakdown of the number of flight attendants needed in the next 20 years
Based on the forecast, a total of 903,000 airline cabin crew will be needed from 2020 to 2039 worldwide. This also include flight attendants from private firms, government transport, and helicopter services. Looking though at the commercial aviation side only, a total of 874,000 flight attendants will be needed. Here are the breakdown per regions:
- 336,000 from the Asia-Pacific region
- 188,000 from Europe
- 169,000 from North America
- 108,000 from Middle East
- 49,000 from Latin America
- 27,000 from Russia and Central Asia
- 26,000 from Africa
Around 7,500 flight attendants for the Philippines alone
Based on the outlook, the South East Asia region will need 83,000 flight attendants in the next 20 years. If we are to divide that equally by 11 countries, that will mean 7,545 each. Of course, every country in South East Asia have different travel demands and different airlines. Hence for the Philippines alone, we might see a demand between 7,000 to 7,500 new or returned flight attendants in the next 20 years. That’s a good number considering that the Philippines have both domestic and international air services.
The importance of flight attendants in the aviation industry
According to Boeing, flight attendants are most visible in their customer service role However, their primary purpose is to ensure the safety of passengers. This responsibility has been further emphasized during the past year, as cabin crews have taken extra precautions to strengthen traveler confidence. This is also why the demand for flight attendants is contingent on the air travel demand or the growth of the airline industry.
Today, passengers will experience a modified level of service as flight attendants focus on maintaining hygiene, safety and sanitation throughout the aircraft cabin. Training continues to focus on ensuring cabin crew members have the skills to recognize and mitigate safety risks. Advances in scenario-based training and distance learning technologies support continuous learning and prepare cabin crews for situations that may occur in the cabin.
Over the forecast period, regulatory requirements, attrition replacement and business-model differentiation will continue to drive cabin crew demand across the industry.
The airline industry will rebound and more flight attendants will be needed again
This forecast show that the airline industry will make a strong come-back. As such, the demand for more flight attendants will again be evident in the next years to come. We may even see a repeat of what happened from 2017 to 2019 were cabin crew mass hiring and recruitment were happening one after another globally. Definitely, we will see a lot of retrenched flight attendants return back to work. More so, we will see a new generation of flight attendants take to the sky.
So hold on to your flight attendant dreams because the airline industry will definitely return to pre-pandemic levels. The world will need more flight attendants in the next coming years.
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