2025 Year-End Aviation Recruitment Trend Review

2025 hasn’t just been another year in aviation recruitment, it’s been a pivot point. A year defined by record passenger demand, intensified skills shortages, rapid fleet growth, new-market expansion and a reshaping of what both airlines and candidates expect from the industry.

If 2023–2024 were the years of rebuilding, 2025 became the year of rebalancing, where talent strategy, workforce planning and recruitment agility mattered more than ever.

Here’s MHC Aviation’s year-end look at the 5 trends that defined aviation hiring this year, and what they mean for 2026.

1. The Talent Shortage Didn’t Ease. It Evolved

Early 2025 was marked by optimism that the industry would finally feel some relief in candidate availability.

Instead, we saw something more complex:

• Pilot shortages deepened in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
• Cabin crew demand spiked, driven by new fleets, lease-ins, and high attrition in seasonal markets.
• Engineers and technicians remained the hardest roles to fill, particularly B1/B2s with type ratings on A320neo, 737 MAX, Embraer E2 and widebodies.
• Ops and ground roles faced mini shortages due to surge hiring before summer peaks.

This has lead to airlines shifting from “filling roles” to strategic workforce planning, building pipelines, training pathways and long-term partnerships.

2. Airlines Became More Flexible With Experience & Entry Routes

One of 2025’s biggest shifts was the industry loosening some of its long-held barriers to entry.

We saw:

• More cadet pilot programmes re-opening
• Cabin crew roles welcoming more first-time crew, including older career changers
• Cross-skilling between ground handling, dispatch, operations and crew control
• More airlines accepting partially qualified engineers and investing in type training

This change isn’t temporary, it reflects a strategic need to build tomorrow’s workforce, not just hire today’s.

3. Contracting & Seasonal Deployment Hit Record Levels

2025 became the year of hybrid workforce models.

Airlines leaned heavily into:

• Seasonal cabin crew
• ACMI-based pilot pools
• Short-term A320 and 737 PICs
• Project engineers
• Rapid MRO and maintenance support teams
• Temporary ops staff for summer and Hajj seasons

Flexibility wasn’t just a preference; it became an operational necessity. Especially as airlines expanded networks faster than permanent hiring pipelines could keep up.

4. Candidates Became More Selective And Vocal

2025 saw a dramatic shift in candidate expectations:

• Better rostering transparency
• Clearer career progression
• More predictable rotations for pilots
• Higher value on training, safety culture and wellbeing
• Stronger interest in international placements
• Cabin crews were especially focused on base stability and contract fairness

The post-Covid “take any job” mindset officially ended this year. Candidates know their value, and the industry is learning to communicate better, earlier, and more honestly.

5. Global Mobility Is Back And Its Bigger Than Pre-Pandemic

One of the standout trends of 2025 was how global the workforce became again.

We saw movement across:

• Europe → Middle East
• South Asia → Europe & Africa
• EU → ACMI operators seasonally
• Pilots shifting to new start-up carriers
• Engineers moving to high-pay MRO hubs

Airlines expanded bases, added aircraft rapidly, and launched new routes, and talent followed. 2025 showed that aviation is truly global again, with skilled professionals willing to relocate for the right package.

So, What Does This Mean for 2026?

If 2025 was the year of rapid shifts, 2026 will be the year airlines start building long-term solutions:

• More structured pilot pathways
• Better retention packages
• Investment in engineering training
• Smoother seasonal workforce planning
• Larger cabin crew intakes
• Strengthened partnerships with staffing partners
• More sophisticated people planning, not just recruitment pushes

The winning airlines in 2026 will be those that treat talent as an asset, not an afterthought.

A Final Thought From MHC Aviation

The past year proved that Aviation doesn’t thrive just because airplanes fly. It thrives because people do.

At MHC Aviation, we’ve been proud to support airlines through the biggest recruitment shifts of the decade, helping them staff, scale and sustain operations when demand has never been higher. As the industry moves into 2026, one thing is clear. The right people will define the next chapter of aviation. And we’re here, as always, to help you find them.