The BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026 will bring the business aviation maintenance community together in London on 3 September, with workforce development once again high on the agenda. For Academy 147, the question goes beyond finding more technicians. The industry needs better awareness, stronger aviation maintenance training, clearer career pathways and meaningful knowledge transfer between generations.
- The BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026 takes place on 3 September at Hilton Heathrow Terminal Five in London.
- Academy 147 returns to the conference with Andrew Trinchero participating in the Training the Next Generation discussion.
- The session will examine technician availability, retention and the training models producing results.
- Apprenticeships, mentoring and career pathways remain central to developing the aviation maintenance workforce.
- The wider challenge is making modern aircraft maintenance more visible and attractive to future professionals.
New aircraft are arriving.
Technology keeps moving.
Maintenance systems are becoming more digital, more connected and, in many cases, more complex.
But none of that changes one basic fact.
Business aviation still depends on people.
That was one of the strongest messages to emerge from the first BizAv Maintenance Conference in 2025. As the industry prepares to return to London for the BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026, the conversation has moved beyond simply identifying a technician shortage.
The bigger question is what we intend to do about it.
For Academy 147and AAMT, that means looking seriously at how our industry attracts people, trains them, keeps them engaged and passes decades of practical knowledge from experienced professionals to those coming behind them.
What Did BMC 2025 Teach Us About Training the Next Generation?
The 2025 conference made one point especially clear: recruiting more people is only part of the workforce challenge.
The industry also needs to understand why people choose aviation maintenance, what keeps them in the profession and whether they can see a realistic long-term career ahead of them.
One of the standout sessions at BMC 2025 was Training the Next Generation.
The discussion brought together professionals from maintenance, training and business aviation to examine a question affecting organizations throughout the sector:
Where will the next generation of skilled aviation maintenance professionals come from?
The discussion went much further than technician numbers.
It explored visibility, apprenticeships, career development, mentorship and the way the aviation industry presents maintenance careers to the outside world.
Several themes have stayed with us. Those lessons provide an important starting point for the BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026, where the conversation will move from identifying the workforce challenge to examining what the industry can do about it.
Why Does Aviation Maintenance Need to Become More Visible?
Many young people simply do not see aircraft maintenance often enough to consider it as a career.
Pilots and cabin crew are highly visible. Maintenance technicians, engineers, avionics specialists, component technicians, planners and CAMO professionals usually work further behind the scenes.
Yet without those people, the aircraft does not fly.
That creates a simple problem.
Someone cannot seriously consider a career they barely know exists.
The 2025 discussion highlighted the importance of reaching people earlier through schools, apprenticeships, work-experience programmes, open days and direct exposure to aircraft.
And direct exposure matters.
There is a big difference between telling a young person that aircraft maintenance is technically demanding and letting them stand beside an aircraft, look inside its systems and speak directly with the people responsible for keeping it operational.
Let them see the aircraft.
Let them handle the tools.
Let them understand the technology.
Let them meet the engineers and technicians behind the operation.
That first experience can be the point where curiosity becomes a career.
How Should Aviation Maintenance Training Connect to a Career Path?
Aviation maintenance training needs to show people where their skills can take them, not simply what they need to learn next.
Maintenance careers are built over time through technical education, practical experience, regulatory knowledge, type training and continuous professional development.
That progression can appear complicated to someone standing at the beginning.
The industry can do a better job of making it visible.
Apprenticeships, structured development programmes, mentoring and clearly explained progression routes can help new entrants understand what their first five, ten or twenty years in aviation might look like.
There is also another source of technical talent that should not be overlooked.
Can Career Changers Become Aviation Maintenance Professionals?
Absolutely. Electricians, automotive technicians, mechanical engineers and professionals from other technical industries may already have strong diagnostic ability, practical experience and an understanding of complex systems.
They are bringing transferable skills with them. With appropriate aircraft maintenance training, regulatory education, and practical support, career changers can become an important part of the future maintenance workforce.
For an industry concerned about technician availability, that matters. Recruitment does not always need to start with someone leaving school.
Sometimes the next skilled aviation professional is already working in another technical profession.
Why Does Mentorship Matter in Aircraft Maintenance?
Formal training provides essential knowledge and competence, but learning does not necessarily end when a course finishes.
Experienced instructors and engineers often become informal mentors to younger technicians.
They may be the person someone contacts when an unusual fault appears.
Or when a technical problem does not quite resemble the textbook example.
Sometimes the question is not even particularly complicated. A younger technician simply wants to hear how someone with twenty or thirty years of experience would approach it.
That exchange is difficult to put into a training manual.
But it is enormously valuable.
Aviation has decades of accumulated expertise within its current workforce. Experienced technicians and engineers carry knowledge gained through aircraft changes, difficult faults, operational pressure and situations that cannot always be recreated neatly inside a classroom.
The industry needs to think carefully about how that experience is transferred before people retire.
Training the next generation is not only about transferring information. It is about transferring judgement and experience. Knowledge transfer and technician development will remain important parts of the conversation at the BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026.
Does Aviation Need to Change the Story It Tells About Maintenance Careers?
Yes.
For too long, aircraft maintenance has sometimes been presented using an outdated image of someone simply “turning spanners.”
That description falls a long way short of modern aviation maintenance.
Today’s professionals work with sophisticated aircraft systems, avionics, advanced diagnostics, electrical systems, connectivity, digital maintenance records and increasingly complex technology.
But technology is only part of the story.
The work also carries real responsibility.
Maintenance professionals keep aircraft safe.
They help keep aircraft available.
They support operators.
They protect passengers and businesses.
They make it possible for aircraft to return to service.
That sense of purpose matters when we talk to the next generation.
Aviation maintenance is not simply a technical occupation hidden behind the hangar doors. It is a profession where technical skill, judgement and responsibility come together every day.
We need to communicate that message better.
And we need to communicate it where younger audiences actually spend their time.
That means schools and colleges, certainly.
It also means social media, video, industry events and digital platforms where people increasingly discover careers they may never have considered before.
What Does the Next Generation of Aviation Maintenance Professionals Need?
There is no single answer to the aviation maintenance workforce challenge.
A sustainable approach is likely to require several parts of the industry working together.
| Priority | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Awareness | Schools, open days, work experience and career outreach |
| Training | Practical, relevant aviation maintenance training |
| Career pathways | Apprenticeships and visible progression opportunities |
| Career changers | Routes for people from adjacent technical industries |
| Mentorship | Continued access to experienced engineers and instructors |
| Knowledge transfer | Passing practical experience between generations |
| Communication | Showing the real technology and responsibility behind maintenance |
The important point is that no single organization can solve this alone.
Training providers have one role.
MROs have another.
OEMs, operators, schools, regulators and experienced maintenance professionals all have a part to play.
That collaboration is exactly why industry discussions such as the BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026 matter.
BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026 Event Details
Date: 3 September 2026
Location: Hilton Heathrow Terminal Five, London
Time: 8:00 AM until late
Event information and registration:
https://www.bizavltd.com/bizav-conferences/
Academy Aviation Group – BMC 2026:
https://academyaviationgroup.com/events/bizav-maintenance-conference-2026/
Register:
https://book.stripe.com/3cI5kC5gNePO2OLbdS5wI0d
What does the aviation maintenance industry need to do differently to attract, train and retain the next generation?
We would be interested to hear your perspective.
What Else Is on the BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026 Programme?
Training is only one part of the BMC 2026 program. The one-day conference will bring together Directors of Maintenance, aircraft operators, OEMs, Part 145 organizations, CAMOs, service centres, parts specialists, training organizations and other decision-makers from across business aviation. Conference topics include:
The Operators’ Approach to Maintenance, The OEM Approach to Maintenance, The Future of MROs, Safety, CAMO & Continuing Airworthiness, Engine Maintenance Programs, Maintenance Software &, Digital Records, Connectivity, Spare Parts & Logistics, Training the Next Generation, Wide-Body & Large Aircraft Maintenance, In-House MRO, Completions, Engineering & Certification
Following an event that welcomed more than 230 senior industry attendees, the BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026 returns with an even broader program focused on the challenges shaping business aviation maintenance.
Why Is Academy 147 Co-Hosting the BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026?
As a co-host of the BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026, Academy 147and AAMT are helping bring the maintenance and training community together around the challenges shaping the industry’s future. Workforce development is closely connected to what we do every day. Training is obviously part of it, but there is a wider responsibility too.
The industry needs to ensure that people entering aviation maintenance today have access not only to technical knowledge but also to experienced instructors, realistic progression routes and a professional community they can continue learning from. That is why conversations around apprenticeships, mentoring, retraining and knowledge transfer matter.
Where Does the Aviation Maintenance Workforce Go From Here?
One question remains especially important as we approach the BizAv Maintenance Conference 2026:
How do we ensure that the knowledge, skills and experience business aviation needs today are still available ten and twenty years from now?
There is no single answer. We need better awareness. Better training pathways. More apprenticeships and opportunities for career changers. More mentoring. Closer cooperation between schools, training organizations, MROs, OEMs and operators. And perhaps most importantly, we need to show the next generation what aircraft maintenance really represents.
It is not simply a job. It is a profession built around technology, judgement, responsibility, continuous learning and safety.
That is a story worth telling. Academy 147 looks forward to continuing that conversation in London.
Written by Stamatina Kiriazou | Connect on LinkedIn
