To ensure the operational capabilities of the Swedish Air Force's aircraft, maintenance and preparation of the aircraft are required – these calls for aviation maintenance personnel. In this research, we have explored how the skills supply for aircraft technicians and flight engineers can be developed and what influences the perception of the profession.
The units studied are perceived to have a high workload due to high demand on available resources. With a fleet of aircraft beginning to approach the end of their life cycle with higher failure rates and a lack of available spare parts, the pressure and workload on the aircraft maintenance organization increases even more.
Through interviews with aircraft technicians (flight mechanics and engineers) from the tactical airlift-, special missions flight-, and executive squadrons at Skaraborg Air Force Wing (F 7), as well as conducting workshop with personnel from the 2nd Helicopter Squadron, we analysed the barriers and opportunities to attract, recruit, develop and retain aviation maintenance personnel.
Our empirical data shows that personnel in the aviation maintenance organization enjoy the varied work primarily associated with the flight engineer profession, but they feel that their salary does not correspond to the length of their education and the difficulty level of their positions. The aviation maintenance technicians feel a decrease in the status of their profession and with the initiation of the Three-tier officer system [Trebefälssystemet, (3BS)] they perceive the career paths as unclear.
As a scientific reference to the empirical work, professional and organizational theoretical literature and research are used, which have been studied in the analysis and perspective of the empirical work.
To enhance the status of the profession, it is suggested to continue the work on the Air Force's Career and Professional Development System, [Flygvapnets Karriär- och Yrkesutvecklingssystem, (FKY)] and its implementation. Active efforts should be made to promote the aviation technician profession to attract more applicants. To enable further education, alternative training paths should become more known within the organization. In the study, it is proposed that the Swedish Armed Forces, among other things, investigate tutoring and mentoring, alternative education paths and validation opportunities for continued career development.
The harmonization of civilian and military regulations for obtaining aviation technician certifications is believed to have a positive impact from a recruitment perspective, and on the status of the profession as well as professional exchange with other actors within the flight maintenance organizations.