Boeing's 2026 Pilot and Technician Outlook projects that the commercial aviation industry will need 728,000 new aircraft maintenance technicians worldwide between 2026 and 2045.

The technician figure sits inside a total of more than 2.4 million new aviation personnel across the 20-year window. The forecast also calls for 674,000 new pilots and 1,023,000 new cabin crew members. Boeing attributes roughly two-thirds of the hiring need to replacing departing workers and one-third to fleet expansion.

North America accounts for 125,000 of the maintenance technician total, along with 122,000 pilots and 191,000 cabin crew. That regional share reflects a mature market where fleet renewal, efficiency gains and lifecycle optimization drive activity more than rapid fleet growth.

Boeing builds the personnel numbers from a 20-year fleet forecast covering commercial aircraft with more than 30 seats. The model weighs fleet growth and replacement, aircraft utilization, attrition rates, and regional crewing differences by aircraft type. Business aviation and civil helicopters fall outside the forecast, keeping the figures aligned with the company's Commercial Market Outlook.

The 2026 edition updates fleet and utilization assumptions from prior years. Cabin crew demand crossed 1,000,000 for the first time, a shift Boeing links to greater fleet productivity and higher seat density per aircraft.

The technician projection lands against a documented shortfall in certificated mechanics across commercial aviation. An aging workforce continues to retire while operational complexity increases, and maintenance roles increasingly require digital, analytical and systems-based skills as connected aircraft generate larger volumes of maintenance data.

Source: Boeing - https://www.boeing.com/commercial/market/pilot-technician-outlook