Page 15 - AAA January / February 2023 Latest Magazine | GBP

MRO
training.
As part of the partnership, GMR will provide a
four-year fully integrated Aircraft Maintenance
Engineer (AME) licensing program at the GMR
School of Aviation in Hyderabad. Airbus will
offer the necessary software and courseware
in the form of trainee handbooks, exam-
ination database, online access of Airbus
customised basic training modules and Airbus
Competence Training (ACT) for Academy
media package which is the technical train-
ing material required for the courses. Airbus
will also provide training to GMR instructors
along with assessment of the training centre.
IN HIGH DEMAND “The partnership with GMR represents a sig-
nificant deepening of MRO capabilities in
India that are required to match the tremen-
AS DEMAND GROWS, MRO COMPANIES AS dous future demand for such services from
WELL AS AIRLINES COMPETE TO ATTRACT the domestic aviation industry,” says Rémi
Maillard, President and Managing Director,
QUALIFIED MAINTENANCE TECHNICIANS Airbus India & South Asia.
 Arun Sivasankaran “The aviation eco-system is evolving rapidly,”
says Ashok Gopinath, CEO, GMR Aero Technic.
With airlines busier than they have been in years and hangars “India is all set to become the largest aviation
overflowing, MRO companies and carriers are on a hiring spree market by 2030. The increase in air traffic is
to meet soaring maintenance demand. leading to fast growth in commercial aviation
fleet in the country. To cater to the emerging
The world over, as many as 610,000 new maintenance technicians demand and support the industry, there is a
will be needed over the next 20 years, according to Boeing’s need for skilled professionals…”
2022 Pilot and Technician Outlook. Nowhere will the long-term
demand for technicians be more acutely felt than the Asia-Pacific In July last year, Safran announced that it
region, which is expected to account for more than 40 percent would create 500-600 new jobs at its upcom-
of global technician need over the next two decades. Boeing ing engine MRO facility in Hyderabad, India,
forecasts that the region will need 250,000 new technicians over for LEAP-1A and -1B engines that equip the
the next decade alone. A320neo and 737 MAX family respectively.

Supply chain issues and the slowdown in the production and The facility, which will be the biggest in India
to be set up by a major global engine man-
delivery of new aircraft have forced airlines to depend longer ufacturer, will be able to handle up to 300
on older aircraft, thereby increasing shop visits for repairs. The engine shop visits annually. The company
increase in passenger to freight conversions across the world, expects the facility to be operational by 2025.
caused by the exponential growth of the air cargo industry during
the pandemic, has also added to the need for new qualified air- Some companies are rehiring employees
craft maintenance technicians (AMTs). that were laid off during the height of the

An acute shortage of qualified AMTs and supply chain disrup- pandemic. In August last year, Lufthansa
Technik Philippines (LTP) announced that it
tions are currently holding MRO providers back and threaten to had finished work on a US$40-million new
derail plans in 2024 as well. Many companies have responded Hangar 1A in Villamor Airbase, Pasay City.
to the challenge by offering raises to existing staff and dan- The 9,000 square meter hangar, which was ini-
gling attractive pay packages to woo new staff. With the already tially planned for September 2020, had been
high demand for qualified technicians in the Asia Pacific region delayed due to the pandemic. In its quest for
expected to spike even further this decade and the next, several at least 275 additional employees, the com-
companies are on a hiring spree even as they invest in new facil- pany has rehired many of the workers it had
ities and technologies in the region. to lay off when Covid-19 brought the industry
to a halt.
The Asian Scene After hiring 250 new workers in Singapore
According to the Airbus Global Market Forecast 2022, India alone in 2021, Pratt & Whitney undertook a hiring
will require about 45,000 new aircraft technicians over the next campaign in 2022 for its Asia-Pacific MRO
20 years. In order to meet demand and to attract fresh talent facilities as engine maintenance demand rose
to the field, Airbus is working with GMR Group, an Indian avia- sharply as airlines pressed more aircraft into
tion infrastructure developer, to provide aircraft maintenance service after the pandemic. The company had

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