2025 in Review: Aviation at Venari Partners

How did the hiring market fare overall in 2025? Aviation DirectorJames Parkerreflects on industry trends, internal developments, and what to expect next year.

Aviation hiring activity in 2025 has been brisk enough, if perhaps not quite as active as we’ve seen in several recent years. There have been fewer C-1 hires than we might have expected, with operational areas seeing the most changes; common themes for the year have included airlines seeking to adopt tech for better ops and customer experience, as well as heightened focus on maintenance and engineering. We believe that the big drive for integrated tech – that is, tech and products being developed so that operations run better – will continue into 2026.

Regional variations

Various markets, including the US, were quieter this year compared to what we’d otherwise noted year-on-year. Various large international carriers made cuts,  whether through attrition or selective layoffs (predominantly at VP- and MD-level). It is also rare to see one of the larger US carriers hiring actively, then to see another on a freeze. As a company, we’ve had numerous stateside developments to celebrate, foremost among these has been welcomingNelamar Piñeiroas Head of Americas for our Aviation practice.

Consolidation has been a significant theme in the US this year, and we see this trend continuing in Europe in 2026, withPegasus Airlines having recently acquired Smartwingsand speculation aboutwhere TAP will go. We are planning to release an article about consolidation in aviation in early 2026, so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

As in 2024, Latin America has been one of the busier markets for our Aviation team this year. There has not been mass recruiting there so much as idiosyncratic industry roles that airlines in the region have been keen to source. Latin American airlines continue to demonstrate resolve in hiring industry talent, and openness to recruiting from outside aviation; trends that we believe will carry on next year.

Some challenges across aviation hiring globally persisted this year and won’t be going away any time soon. I’m referring to matters like the ageing workforce and under-recruitment generally, among others. The market tends to go in peaks and troughs, and in less busy periods the emphasis normally falls on candidates with significant tenure ahead of them. We are glad to see more carriers planning ahead, looking to identify future leaders in the mid- and senior ranks that have the potential to grow.

Financial considerations

Elsewhere, it has been interesting to see the private equity market’s activity in aviation continuing in 2025. Bain Capital was of course part of Virgin Australiabefore their floatation, while also we’ve seeninvestment from Castlelake in SASand the possibility ofstock market activity for WestJetfrom their owners, Onex Partners. I think we will see a lot of PE activity in the wider aviation ecosystem, including MROs and service providers, in 2026.

In the US, salaries have been largely flat this year, but that represents a levelling out after the massive increases post-COVID. Even allowing for higher living costs, pay in the US is still significantly higher than in other markets; in most territories, salaries have been in line with inflation in 2025. We’ve seen the fewest increases in pay in the Middle East relative to other areas: an interesting development given the cost of living in the region’s major cities has gone up. The Gulf still represents good value for the right candidates, though work there is not quite as lucrative as it once was.

Given that the industry as a whole has reported an odd juxtaposition of less recruitment amid solid financial performances (in contrast to how these usually go hand-in-hand), we expect bonuses to be strong this year, particularly in the US. 2026 will likely see smaller packages overall with less generous bonuses and long-term incentives, which might make candidates less inclined to be loyal. Corporate bonuses are under scrutiny at many carriers, and with some airlines withdrawing perks like flight benefits, we could see this have an impact on hiring and pull factor next year.

Other trends

Separately, we are very excited and encouraged to see airline alliances making a number of exciting new hires – something that will be instrumental to driving loyalty and partnerships for members. Across aviation more generally, one notable hiring trend in 2025 has been fewer senior commercial roles, including less CCO movement than we’ve seen in recent years. We expect this is likely due to the post-pandemic hiring drive in this area, which means commercial teams are stabler than they were in the aftermath of COVID; moves we see in this space in 2026 will likely come down to attrition rather than wider market trends. (Then again, it may also be simply that people have moved less, so there has not been a corresponding concertina effect on hiring.)

As an aside, it is worth noting that DEI – and, to some degree, ESG – have subsided as industry talking points this year. That’s not to say they have disappeared from aviation, however. As my colleagueAlex Hydediscusses in hisend-of-year review, the airlines he’s working with are more committed to sustainability than ever – they’re just going about it more quietly amid a very different business environment. Of course, at Venari Partners we continue to push the importance of diversity and sustainability in aviation, and remain committed to driving these agendas in our work.

What does 2026 hold?

In 2025, there have been new CEO announcements and/or appointments atairBaltic,Air New Zealand,easyJet,Eurowings,Fiji Airways,Qatar Airways,Spirit Airlines,Virgin Atlantic, andVirgin Australia, and we think that there will be several more prominent changes at chief executive-level next year. Changes at the top typically cause a ripple effect throughout an organisation as the new CEO usually instals a fresh executive team. We will certainly be curious to see how these pan out. Of any market we work in, we believe that the US will be busiest in 2026, while we also anticipate doing more business in the travel tech and airport sectors (watch out for my colleagueAdam Fell’s forthcoming end-of-year roundup for more on the latter).

Internal developments

It’s been gratifying to see our sector-agnostic practices, like Finance Transformation and Sustainability & Energy Transition, doing more business alongside our Aviation team. They make for a formidable offering when combined with the experience and expertise of our Aviation team, which is larger than it’s ever been and covers all the primary bases of the broader aviation ecosystem. We’ve done more with airport and travel tech companies lately, and while the nature of our work has always been international, two really exciting hires – Research ConsultantEmily Matthewsin Madrid, and Nelamar in Miami – have allowed us to become closer with key markets in southern Europe and the Americas. We’re expecting to add further headcount beyond our London base – which is just as well, because our client base has never been bigger.

Put simply, 2025 has been the most successful year ever in terms of headline figures for our Aviation practice, because our team is bigger and stronger than it’s ever been. This has translated not just in our work but also in our presence physically. We are very proud of our partnerships withIATA,CAPA,ALTA, andMcKinsey & Company, having greatly enjoyed the various events we have participated in this year, and we look forward to more on the horizon in the future. We visited clients more than ever in 2025 and expect this to continue next year. For us, face time is critical and we have worked hard to evolve customer experience into our offerings and solutions, taking inspiration from some of our wonderful airline clients. In 2026, you can find us at theIATA AGMin Rio, theALTA AGM, theCAPA Airline Leader Summit Americasin Charleston, and theWorld Aviation Festivalin Lisbon, where we’re planning on doing things differently for 2026. Be sure to keep up with our news for more details about this.

Final words

I would like to wish our entire network a very happy and peaceful holiday season, and all the best for the new year. Thank you to all our loyal customers and clients, and very special thanks toaviancafor generously supporting theVenari Partners Challenge.

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