Aviation job interest skyrocketing

“We might hit a rough couple of months, but aviation isn’t going away,” said JSfirm.com Executive Director Abbey Hutter. “When it comes back, it’s going to come roaring back.”

Online traffic increased 32 percent over the same time period in 2019, and the career site is fielding 60,000 unique daily searches by website visitors looking for a variety of aviation positions. (A unique visitor is someone who is using the search function for the first time during that reporting period.)

“We wondered what we could do to help aviators looking for jobs,” said Hutter, who anticipated a surge of hiring demand when air travel returns in the post-pandemic environment. Until recently, airlines, corporate aviation operators, and flight schools were hiring at a frenetic pace.

At this time of year, Hutter and her colleagues would normally be catching a quick breath between recruiting sessions at the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo career fair and the Great Alaska Aviation Gathering, which were both canceled because of the pandemic.

Although travel bans and social distancing have temporarily smothered commercial aviation, Hutter’s team is looking ahead toward a time when the skies are again crowded with businesspeople and vacation seekers. When that begins to happen, the company wants to assure job seekers and aviation companies that they both have the resources to quickly get flying.

To prepare for an uptick in hiring, the online aviation employment service developed a new feature that allows candidates to park their resumes with aviation businesses that have suspended their hiring budgets, announced service cutbacks, or implemented furloughs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. When these employers resume hiring, a fresh stack of resumes will be waiting.

Hutter reminded those seeking aviation jobs to get ready now because the industry will be looking to quickly fill a void for information technology professionals, meteorologists, unmanned operators, executive leadership, and other aviation-related positions—as well as for pilots, technicians, and cabin crew.

“Until about two months ago, the aviation industry was on fire and it was the best time to be a job board. Everyone was looking for people—and people were looking for jobs,” Hutter explained. “We feel that things will loosen up soon and that people will be OK spending again.”