Mohammad Taher is one of 10 UK Aviation Ambassadors appointed by the Department for Transport (DfT), raising awareness for opportunities within the aviation industry.
He is an award-winning educational influencer known as ‘The Airport Guy’ and engineer focusing on giving a ‘behind the scenes’ look into the aviation industry.
CILT had the opportunity to meet with Mohammad at Heathrow Airport learning more about the future of the industry and its growing skills shortage.
Mohammad said: “One of the aviation industry's biggest challenges is the impending skills shortage as older workers retire.
“This exodus of talent and knowledge could severely damage the economy if the skills gap is not addressed.
“To accelerate closing this gap, we need young people eager to join aviation and keen to continuously learn. New entrants must have a growth mindset - understanding their capabilities can grow, failure is constructive, and development is ongoing.”
The sooner aviation establishes a pipeline of emerging talent willing to absorb knowledge from departing veterans, the less severe the skills shortage blow will be once older workers leave, Mohammad explained.
According to the Government’s ‘Future Aviation Skills Strategy,’ published in July 2023, by 2050 digital and engineering skills will be needed for both aviation and aerospace.
Under ‘Emerging Roles’, the strategy states: “Future roles are likely to be more skilled, knowledge-based and-knowledge driven. More environmentally conscious people are coming into the sector and there may be more sustainability roles.
“There are likely to be fewer people in the low-paid manual labour workforce with more efficiency through technology, the new technology being implemented will require higher skilled people looking after the new technology.”
When asked about how the industry could get people more excited about what’s to come, Mohammad highlighted that the industry should speak their language.
Advice he shared was using social media where they already are, be present in the places they exist, and open doors by providing opportunities to experience aviation firsthand through internships and work experience.He also underlined that this authentic engagement, exposure and access will capture their interest and give them a taste of the industry, keeping them hooked.
We also spoke of new technology that continues to emerge, one that stood out was electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL).
“I really like the idea of that personal mobility, the ability to just get in a little pod and be able to fly here or there, especially because it's sustainable being electric.
“It will completely revolutionise the way that we look at short hops across the country.
“Actually, unlocking the ability to fly through the sky on short little hops, without the requirement for a runway is actually really powerful and could potentially revolutionise the way that cities are connected, and how people transfer around cities, Mohammad said.
Look out for our full interview with Mohammad in this month’s edition of Focus.