IFA Launches Industry Survey to Address Growing Airworthiness and Engineering Challenges
The International Federation of Airworthiness (IFA) has launched a major industry-wide survey aimed at tackling some of the biggest challenges facing aviation as airlines prepare for decades of sustained growth and increasing aircraft complexity.
The initiative comes at a time when the aviation industry is experiencing record demand. Flight tracking service Flightradar24 recently recorded its busiest day ever, with 153,359 commercial flights operating in a single day – a 5.8% increase compared with the previous year. Looking further ahead, Boeing forecasts that global passenger traffic will more than double over the next 20 years, with airlines expected to require around 710,000 new maintenance technicians worldwide to support expanding fleets.
Against this backdrop, the IFA believes the industry’s ability to maintain airworthiness standards and ensure aircraft remain safely in service risks falling behind unless coordinated action is taken.
Launched as part of the organisation’s 50th anniversary celebrations, the survey seeks input from across the global aviation sector, including airlines, aircraft manufacturers, maintenance organisations, design organisations, regulators, academia and technology providers. The results will help shape discussions at the IFA Airworthiness Summit in September, where senior industry leaders will meet to agree practical priorities and actions for the years ahead.
The federation says the survey is intended to move the conversation beyond identifying problems and towards implementing measurable solutions.
Hazel Courteney, President of the International Federation of Airworthiness, said: “For 50 years, the IFA has championed airworthiness, safety and professional standards across aviation. As we look towards the next 50 years, our industry faces a pivotal moment.
“Aviation is growing. Aircraft are becoming more complex and the challenges faced are ones that no single organisation can solve alone. The industry has become very good at discussing these issues. What we now need is collective agreement on priorities, ownership and delivery. This survey is designed to help us move beyond identifying problems and begin building practical solutions.”
Engineering Skills Under Pressure
The survey follows discussions held during the IFA’s 2025 John Saull Memorial Event, where aviation professionals identified a range of interconnected issues that could affect future airworthiness.
Among the most pressing concerns were workforce shortages, ageing engineering populations, declining numbers of licensed aircraft engineers, limited training capacity and the industry’s ability to retain critical knowledge as experienced personnel retire.
The rapid introduction of new technologies is also creating fresh challenges. Participants highlighted the growing importance of artificial intelligence governance, software assurance, human factors, safety culture, regulatory effectiveness, information sharing and supply chain resilience.
Rather than treating these issues individually, the survey aims to understand how they interact. The IFA argues that weaknesses in areas such as workforce capability, organisational culture, leadership or regulation can have wider implications for aviation safety and operational performance.
Supporting Aviation’s Next Phase of Growth
With global aircraft fleets expected to almost double over the coming two decades, ensuring there are enough skilled engineers and robust airworthiness systems is becoming an increasingly important challenge for the industry.
The survey’s findings will be presented at the IFA Airworthiness Summit in September 2026, where senior representatives from industry, regulators and government will work to establish a focused programme of activity designed to strengthen airworthiness capability for the years ahead.
As commercial aviation continues to expand, the federation believes greater collaboration across the sector will be essential to maintaining the high safety standards on which the industry depends.
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