European aviation training provider Resource Group is expanding its remote learning and testing opportunities for future maintenance technicians to address the region’s MRO skills shortage.
Resource Group has provided Part 147 training in the UK for more than 20 years, working with airlines such as British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, TUI and Virgin Atlantic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it adapted its training methods to deliver courses remotely. The success of this virtual model and student preferences for remote learning eventually led the company to pivot toward delivering all instructor-led Part 66 courses via Zoom.
Last year, Resource Group invested £2.5 million ($3.2 million) to create an interactive, digital Part 66 self-study course that would allow students to learn at their own pace. The digital coursework, which prepares students to test for Part 66 aircraft maintenance licenses from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority, includes 3D graphics, interactive scenarios and video content to maximize engagement and understanding.
According to Stuart Johnson, business development manager at Resource Group, the self-study offering provides learning advantages as well as an opportunity to grow the company’s footprint. “The benefits of self-study learning are well documented, including improved knowledge retention, flexibility and cost-effectiveness—all crucial requirements which we identified in our post-pandemic customer base,” he says. Johnson also notes that the product gives Resource Group “a vehicle to access new global markets where an EASA license is required due to the movement of EU-registered aircraft.”
Resource Group initially launched examination hubs at Cotswold Airport, London’s Luton and Stansted Airports, and Aberdeen Airport in Scotland, where students can take the required tests to obtain their certifications. Now, the company plans to launch more examination hubs throughout Europe—and even further abroad—to meet growing demand. The first of these will be in Shannon, Ireland.
“We regularly receive a significant level of engagement with our self-study courses from engineers residing in Ireland,” says Ian Fitzpatrick, managing director of Resource Group Training Solutions. “Through thorough research and a substantial volume of interactions regarding our self-study product, Ireland consistently ranks among the top 10 locations for website searches and inquiries, so ultimately, opening an examination center in Shannon felt like the right choice. We anticipate that this examination center will create pathways for numerous engineers, helping to bridge the gap in the shortage of skilled workers and to meet the increasing demand in the industry.”
This year, Resource Group also plans to open examination sites in Manchester and somewhere in the Benelux region. The company says it has seen demand for its digital training products in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific region, so it plans to open local facilities there in the coming years to meet customer demand abroad.
Johnson notes that Europe’s MRO workforce shortage has been accentuated post-pandemic due to an aging labor pool and skilled technicians leaving aviation for industries that were less impacted by COVID-19. “As the demand for air travel has returned sharply, coupled with a smaller pool of skilled workers, the demand for aircraft maintenance training in the UK and Europe has increased exponentially,” he says.
Like the U.S., which has struggled with meeting MRO workforce demand due to a Part 147 instructor shortage, Johnson says the UK and Europe have also experienced issues finding enough qualified instructional and training staff. “To satisfy the EASA regulations, organizations like Resource Group are having to recruit experienced, licensed engineers to deliver our training programs, so we, too, are impacted by the industry skills shortage,” he says.
Johnson says Resource Group uses multiple strategies to recruit instructors, including “more novel strategies like traineeships, accessing the ex-military market and sponsoring international staff to join our workforce.” He also notes that airlines and operators are now being required to run multiple recruiting and training initiatives simultaneously to ensure they have enough labor resources.
“One clear example of this is in the way airlines and operators are now actively supporting their staff with career progression. Historically, if an individual had ambitions of gaining their EASA Part 66 license, it was commonplace that it would be the employees’ responsibility to arrange and fund this in their own time,” says Johnson.
“We’ve seen a change in dynamic now, where airlines are sponsoring their staff, be that financially or in other means to gain these qualifications,” he adds. “In doing so, they are satisfying their internal requirement for licensed engineers but also boosting employee retention in what is a very competitive marketplace.”
Resource Group Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Price says the company is mirroring others in trying to promote the aviation industry’s career prospects, “including the lifestyle, financial and travel possibilities that the rich and diverse range of roles in this space can offer,” he says. “Starting at a grassroots level with these initiatives is critical, and we see apprentice candidates being addressed at younger ages and stages in their career considerations.”
