Background
The NGAP initiative was launched in 2009 to help ensure that enough qualified and competent aviation professionals are available to operate, manage and maintain the future international air transport system. This is critical as a large contingent of the current generation of aviation professionals will retire, access to affordable training and education is increasingly problematic, and aviation competes with other industry sectors for highly skilled professionals. The lack of harmonized competencies in some aviation disciplines and a lack of awareness by the “next generation” of the types of aviation jobs available further compounds the challenge.
Next Generation of Aviation Professionals (NGAP) issues is of immediate interest to many stakeholders: airlines, air navigation service providers, airports, manufacturers, training providers, universities, and others. Attracting and educating the next generation of aviation professionals also involves working with national and international education and labour stakeholders. In order to promote and gain leverage for NGAP among all stakeholders, it is critical to adopt a data-driven approach that justifies the future investment of resources in NGAP initiatives. ICAO initially launched the NGAP programme in 2009 to address the forecasted shortage of aviation professionals.
Due to the importance of NGAP issues, ICAO has determined that it is critical to provide greater support to this work and, as a result, has elevated the NGAP initiative to an ICAO Programme. The ICAO NGAP Programme has been incorporated into the ICAO Global Plans, both for safety and air navigation, as well as the ICAO Business Plan and Work Programme.
NGAP Vision
A global aviation community that has sufficient competent human resources to support a safe, secure and sustainable air transportation system.
NGAP Mission
To develop strategies, best practices, tools, standards and guidelines as applicable and to facilitate information sharing activities that assist the global aviation community in attracting, educating, and retaining the next generation of aviation professionals.
