NZAero and NMIT Launch Aviation Engineering Training Initiative to Address Skills Shortage

NZAero and Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) are establishing a new aviation engineering training initiative in Hamilton designed to help address a chronic shortage of hundreds of aircraft engineers, as industry leaders warn the growing skills gap could constrain maintenance capacity, aircraft manufacturing and the expansion of New Zealand’s multi-million-dollar aerospace export sector.

The industry training specialist and commercial aircraft manufacturer will establish the country’s largest industry-based aviation engineering training initiative of its kind at NZAero’s Waikato manufacturing facility, as New Zealand aviation businesses face growing international competition for a limited pool of skilled engineers.

Latest industry workforce projections show New Zealand will need around 4,500 aviation engineers by 2034, up from approximately 3,000 today, requiring the sector to increase its engineering capacity by about 50% over the next eight years.

Modelling prepared for the Aviation Industry Association and the former Services Workforce Development Council, Ringa Hora, estimates the existing shortage at around 500 engineers, with the gap between supply and demand growing by an average of 7% a year. Demand for engineers is forecast to increase by around 2% to 3% annually, compared with about 1% growth across the wider New Zealand labour force.

The modelling projects the number of new entrants to the aviation engineering workforce will grow by an average of around 1.4% a year, while those exiting will increase by about 3%, further widening the skills gap.

NMIT chief executive Dr Caroline Seelig says the widening gap has implications across the aviation sector.

“We are not bringing people into the industry fast enough to replace those leaving, let alone provide the additional engineers we will need as aviation grows.

“At the same time, every major aviation market is competing for the same people, which means experienced engineers are becoming harder and more expensive to recruit from overseas.

“Aviation engineering is highly specialised and regulated, and it takes years to train people and build the experience needed to maintain, repair and certify aircraft. This isn’t a shortage you can solve quickly once it becomes critical.

“If we don’t increase the number coming through, we are going to see pressure on maintenance capacity, aircraft potentially spending longer out of service and aviation businesses reaching limits on how much work they can take on,” she says.

NZAero chief executive Stephen Burrows says the scale of the engineering workforce required to support aviation is often underestimated.

“As a broad industry rule of thumb, four engineers are required to support each pilot and the aircraft they operate.

“The workforce we will need later this decade depends on the training decisions being made now and, for companies like NZAero, the shortage is already becoming a direct constraint on growth.

“We are expanding into international markets, but winning export orders is only part of the equation. We also need enough skilled people in New Zealand to build the aircraft and support them once they are in service.”

The Hamilton initiative will expand NMIT’s specialist aviation engineering training into the North Island, where a significant share of prospective student demand is now being generated.

NMIT has delivered aviation engineering education for more than 20 years and is a Civil Aviation Authority-approved Part 147 training provider, with its specialist aviation programmes traditionally concentrated in Nelson and Marlborough.

The new programme will operate from NZAero’s Hamilton site, where the company designs, manufactures, maintains and modifies aircraft for customers in New Zealand and overseas.

Once fully established, the initiative is expected to contribute to the training of up to 230 aviation engineering students annually across New Zealand.

Burrows says locating the programme inside a working aircraft manufacturing operation will give students direct exposure to the environment in which their skills will be used, while creating a potential source of future recruits for the company.

“There is a real advantage in training people alongside an operating aircraft manufacturing business because they can see how the skills they are learning are applied in practice.

“It also gives us the opportunity to identify and develop people who could ultimately move into roles within our factory as we expand production.

“The benefit extends beyond NZAero because these are skills that are in demand across aircraft manufacturing, maintenance and the wider aviation industry.”

NZAero has been expanding its international activity from Hamilton, including restarting production of its CT-4 Airtrainer after a 14-year pause and pursuing new aircraft sales in overseas markets.

Dr Seelig says expanding aviation engineering training into Hamilton will give more North Island students access to specialist education while responding to a long-term workforce need.

She says the training model will give students exposure to the equipment, processes and standards used in aircraft production and maintenance, while creating scope for existing aviation workers to undertake further training.

“New Zealand has a clear need for more aviation engineers and increasing the training pipeline is essential if the sector is going to meet future demand.

“Much of NMIT’s specialist aviation engineering provision has historically been based in the South Island, while a significant proportion of prospective student interest is now coming from the North Island.

“Establishing training in Hamilton means learners can choose to train in either the North or South Island, and this new initiative places them directly within an operating aviation manufacturing environment.”

Dr Seelig says Hamilton was also seen as a practical alternative to Auckland, with access to surrounding centres including Cambridge and Te Awamutu and lower accommodation and transport costs for students.

NZAero in the Media

The new aviation engineering training initiative has attracted national media coverage, highlighting both NZAero’s investment in the future aviation workforce and the wider shortage of specialist aircraft engineers facing New Zealand.

The NZ Herald reported on NZAero and NMIT’s plans for a new Hamilton aviation training campus, including the demand for greater aviation engineering training capacity and the projected need for thousands more engineers over the coming decade.

The Waikato Times examined the Hamilton aviation training hub and the critical aircraft engineer shortage it is designed to help address, with the initiative based at NZAero’s Waikato manufacturing facility.

RNZ also reported on the partnership between NZAero and NMIT and the aviation engineering skills shortage the Hamilton initiative is designed to help address. 

Further industry coverage included SafetyNews reporting on the launch of the NMIT and NZAero Hamilton aviation training hub.