Seasonal demand shifts leave aviation workforce gaps, analysis says

Aviation workforce gaps get harder to close when passenger demand moves faster than airlines can recruit, train and deploy staff, according to an analysis of seasonal travel patterns.

When the European summer season ends, demand doesn't vanish. It shifts. Aircraft, crews and maintenance organisations are expected to follow passengers toward the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Africa and other markets entering their own travel, tourism, religious or business periods, the analysis says.

In Europe, an average of 35,959 daily flights were recorded between June and August 2026. That is 2.4% more than in summer 2025. The network hit a record 37,659 flights on July 24. Capacity and staffing accounted for 49% of en-route air traffic flow management delays, ahead of several other causes.

Seasonal capacity planning has to start before demand peaks, the analysis says, not when rosters, training slots and recruitment pipelines are already stretched.

It cites global traffic figures for November 2025: passenger demand rose 5.7% year on year and international demand rose 7.7%. African carriers recorded 11.2% international demand growth that month and Asia-Pacific carriers 9.3%. Middle Eastern carriers saw 9.6% growth, with a regional passenger load factor of 81.4%, up 0.3 percentage points on November 2024. European carriers recorded 6.8% demand growth and an 85.6% international load factor, an increase of 6.1% year on year.

Recruitment cannot be planned on a fixed annual cycle when demand moves between regions with the seasons, according to the analysis.