Message from Magnetic Group CEO: Time to Wake Up, Dear Rulemakers!

By Risto Mäeots, CEO of Magnetic Group.

One of the most striking remarks I heard from the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry during a recent board meeting was this:

“It is not about the cost we save by reducing the number of bureaucrats. It is about the amount of bureaucracy they stop generating, which they often create to justify their own existence.”

This observation perfectly frames two critical issues affecting aviation technical personnel.

These challenges remain hidden from most, but they will profoundly shape our industry – especially as the global commercial fleet grows from around 29,000 aircraft today to nearly 38,000 by 2035.

Aviation Technician Education Council and Oliver Wyman have already estimated a current workforce shortage of around 9%, projected to reach nearly 20% by 2028 – a shortfall of approximately 25,000 certified mechanics.

Now, consider the impact of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/989, adopted on May 22, 2023. Among its many changes, the most significant was the reshaping of rules around on-the-job training (OJT) supervision and documentation standards.

On paper, this sounds reasonable: a young engineer pursuing their first aircraft type rating must complete a pre-set list of mandatory tasks, signed off by both trainee and mentor using actual job cards or worksheets.

But here’s the problem:

Line maintenance – which now represents a larger share of airline spending than base maintenance – simply does not provide exposure to all of these required tasks. The reality is that during line checks, heavy maintenance tasks rarely occur.

To bridge the gap, line maintenance providers may try sending their engineers into base maintenance environments. Yet, base maintenance organizations are not eager to allow third-party applicants to work hands-on with customer aircraft for extended periods.

The rules demand one instructor per applicant – and, as mentioned, the current workforce is already facing a shortage that will only grow in the future. On top of that, the OJT procedure and logbook requires each member state separate approval despite all member states follow same regulation.

So while regulators may believe these changes make aviation safer, the reality is quite the opposite. They have made it far more complicated to bring new engineers into the industry.

Airlines are running short of qualified hands and, inevitably, technical issues will be deferred. Which raises the question: was there ever a real problem with engineer quality – or was this just another “idea” pulled from a bureaucrat’s pen, keeping everyone busy for the sake of being busy?

The second issue concerns airport access for certified engineers.

Aircraft cabin crew receive airport access via ICAO Annex 17–mandated Crew Member Certificates, backed by background checks, visible ID display, and security screening. It’s a straightforward, standardized process.

For engineers, however, the situation is completely different. Dispatching an experienced engineer to another airport – often in urgent circumstances – requires a fresh background check at each airport, a process that can take weeks, sometimes months.

And these are not unknown individuals. We’re talking about engineers with decades of experience, international credentials, and authorizations on a wide range of complex aircraft.

Our industry faces many large-scale challenges – from generational workforce shifts to climate and geopolitical pressures.

Yet the two issues I’ve highlighted are examples of low-hanging fruit that could be solved with just a little common sense and accountability.

Sadly, common sense is often the first casualty in bureaucratic corridors. And that leads me to a bigger realization: while airlines are well-represented in Brussels through clusters and lobbyists, the MRO sector is poorly represented.

These examples show why the European MRO sector urgently needs a united voice.

It’s time to wake up.

Airlines have strong lobbying power, but MROs do not. If we don’t come together, more rules will continue to be written without our input – rules that make it harder to train engineers, delay maintenance capacity, and ultimately damage the long-term safety and competitiveness of European aviation.

That’s why I believe it is time to establish a pan-European MRO cluster – or appoint a dedicated spokesperson – to represent our interests at the EU level.

I invite fellow European MRO CEOs to consider whether now is the moment to make this happen.

Original source: Linkedin