Aviation Recruitment Consultants
Hire permanent aviation staff, from licensed engineers and pilots to cabin crew and ground operations. We recruit for airlines, MRO providers, ground handlers, airports and aerospace manufacturers across 36 countries. Tell us the role, the licence or type rating required, and the base, and we return a shortlist.
16+ Years Of Experience
550,000+ Placements Delivered
36+ Countries Served
350+ Expert Teams
50+ Top Level Positions
What Do Aviation Recruitment Consultants Do?
Aviation recruitment consultants source and place staff for airlines, MRO organisations, ground handlers, airports and aerospace manufacturers, across roles that are screened on licences and approvals rather than on experience alone.
That licensing dependency is what separates aviation from every other sector we work in. A licensed aircraft engineer is not simply an engineer. They hold specific type approvals under an EASA, FAA, or DGCA framework, and a Part 145 organisation cannot deploy them outside those approvals no matter how capable they are. A pilot is qualified by type rating and hours, not by seniority. Cabin crew is recruited at volume against safety and service criteria and a fixed training calendar.
We place permanent employees only. We do not supply contract crew, seasonal cover or agency shift staff.
You may also see this service described as an aviation recruitment agency, aviation placement agency, or aviation staffing firm. Same work, different vocabulary.
For airline-specific hiring, see our airline recruitment practice.
How We Recruit Aviation Staff
The expensive mistake in aviation hiring is not a slow shortlist. It is a shortlist that ignores approvals, so three candidates in, someone discovers a licence does not cover the fleet. We establish the regulatory frame before we source: which authority, which approvals, which type. It makes the first conversation longer and every conversation after it shorter.
Aviation Recruitment Costs and Timelines
What It Costs:
Our fee is a percentage of the hire’s first-year salary, agreed before the search begins and payable when they join. For cabin crew and ground operations recruited at volume against a training intake, we agree a fixed per-placement fee instead.
How Long It Takes:
Ground operations and cabin crew: shortlist in 10 to 15 working days, aligned to your training calendar. Licensed engineers and technical roles: 3 to 5 weeks to shortlist, because the approval-matched pool is genuinely small. Management roles: 4 to 6 weeks. International placements add visa and documentation time.
What Our Aviation Recruitment Services Include
Licensed Engineer and Technical Recruitment
Aircraft maintenance engineers and licensed technicians, screened on type approvals and the regulatory framework your operation holds, not on years of experience.
Pilot Recruitment
Screened on type rating, hours and currency. 34 impressions a year reach this page searching for exactly this, and currently find nothing.
Cabin Crew Recruitment at Volume
Batch recruitment against training intake dates, including in-market selection events where individual scheduling would miss the calendar.
Ground Handling, Airport and Operations Roles
Ramp, passenger services, load control, dispatch and airport operations, where shift tolerance and security clearance decide retention.
Aerospace and MRO Manufacturing
Design, production and quality roles across aerospace manufacturing and component supply. See our aerospace and defence case study.
Permanent Placements Only
Every hire is added to your payroll as a permanent employee. We do not supply contract crew, seasonal cover, wet-lease staffing, or agency shift workers.
Our Aviation Recruitment Process
Step 1: Role and Regulatory Scoping Call (45 minutes, within 2 working days)
We establish the role, the base, the headcount and critically the regulatory frame: which authority, which approvals, which aircraft types. For volume roles we also establish your training intake dates, because those are the real deadline.
Step 2: Approval-Matched Market Assessment (3 to 5 working days)
How many people actually hold the approvals you need, in the markets you can hire from, at the band you are offering. For narrow type approvals this number is often smaller than clients expect, and it is better heard in week one.
Step 3: Sourcing and Screening (10 working days to 5 weeks depending on category)
Direct sourcing, with screening on licence validity and approval scope, currency, base and relocation viability, and for operational roles shift tolerance and clearance eligibility.
Step 4: Assessment and Client Selection (1 to 2 weeks)
Client interviews and assessment, including selection events for volume cabin crew and ground operations intakes.
Step 5: Offer, Documentation and Joining (3 to 12 weeks depending on route)
Local hires move on notice. International placements involve visa, medical, security clearance and licence validation or conversion, which we coordinate through to start date.
Step 6: Joining, Training Completion and Guarantee Period (first 90 days)
Aviation attrition concentrates around training completion and the first roster cycle, and it is usually about base, roster pattern or accommodation rather than capability. We check in at 30, 60, and 90 days, and if a placement does not hold inside the guarantee period, we re-run the search at no additional fee.
Need Qualified Aviation Professionals?
Tell us the role, location and experience required. We’ll build a focused shortlist for your aviation team.
Aviation Roles and Markets We Recruit For
Licensed Aircraft Engineers and Technicians
B1, B2, and equivalent licensed engineers, avionics technicians, and structures specialists, matched to your approval scope.
Pilots and Flight Crew
Captains and first officers, screened on type rating, hours and currency.
Cabin Crew
Volume recruitment against training intakes, screened on safety, service and language.
Ground Handling and Ramp Operations
Ramp, baggage, load control and turnaround roles, where clearance and shift tolerance drive retention.
Airport and Passenger Services
Check-in, gate, lounge and passenger services roles across airport operations.
Aviation Management and Operations
Station managers, operations controllers, quality and safety managers, and technical leadership.
India
where our deepest aviation network sits.
The Gulf
Airline, MRO and ground handling operations across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the wider region. See our Middle East manpower practice.
Who We Recruit Aviation Staff For
You Are Recruiting Against a Training Intake Date
Cabin crew or ground operations at volume, where missing the intake costs a whole cycle.
Your Approval Scope Has Narrowed the Pool
You need engineers with a specific type approval and your local market has run out. The search has to widen geographically, and licence conversion becomes part of the timeline.
You Are Opening a New Base or Route
Ground operations, passenger services and engineering support hired to a fixed launch date.
You Are an MRO Facility Scaling Capacity
Licensed engineers and technicians matched to your Part 145 scope rather than to a generic job title.
Your Ramp or Ground Operations Turnover Is Above Sector Norm
Usually a roster or clearance-process problem rather than a recruitment one, and worth diagnosing before hiring again.
You Have Used Generalist Recruiters and Received Unqualified Shortlists
The most common reason aviation clients switch. A recruiter who does not understand approvals cannot screen for them.
The Alliance Advantage in Aviation Recruitment
We Screen on Approvals, Not Job Titles:
Licence scope, type rating and currency are established before sourcing begins, which is why our shortlists are shorter and none of them are disqualified on paper.
Volume Capacity Against Training Calendars:
Cabin crew and ground operations recruited in batches to an intake date, with selection events where that is what the calendar requires.
16+ Years and 15,000+ Placements Across 36+ Countries:
International aviation placement, including licence conversion and documentation, is routine rather than exceptional work.
Strongest Where Aviation Hiring Is Densest:
India and the Gulf, where our network is deepest and where this page already ranks in the top ten.
One Accountable Recruiter, Not a Sub-Agent Chain:
Particularly relevant in aviation, where documentation errors have regulatory consequences rather than merely commercial ones.
We Tell You When the Pool Does Not Exist:
Some approval and band combinations cannot be filled at any speed. You will hear that in week one rather than week nine.
Why Choose Alliance Among Aviation Recruitment Consultants
Aviation is one of the few sectors where a recruiter can produce a shortlist of genuinely excellent people and every one of them be unusable. Approval scope does that. A B1 licensed engineer with fifteen years on one fleet is not a candidate for a different fleet without conversion, and a generalist recruiter reading a CV will not see the difference. Most clients who come to us have been through that at least once.
So our first conversation is mostly regulatory rather than commercial, and it frequently ends with us telling a client that the pool they are imagining does not exist at the band they are offering. That is not a comfortable opening. It is considerably more comfortable than week nine.
Our Client reviews
We needed to fill several aviation roles quickly, including licensed engineers and ground operations staff. Alliance took the time to understand the certifications and experience we required before sending candidates. The shortlist was relevant, and it saved our management team from spending weeks reviewing unsuitable profiles.
Finding qualified aviation professionals with the right licenses and operational experience was our biggest challenge. Alliance handled the sourcing and initial screening carefully and kept us informed as candidates progressed. The process was organised, and we were able to focus our interview time on genuinely suitable applicants.
We were expanding our operations and needed experienced pilots and technical staff within a defined hiring window. Alliance understood the urgency and helped us build a focused candidate pipeline across multiple markets. Their team stayed involved throughout the selection process, which made international hiring much easier for us.
Frequently Asked Questions
They source and place staff for airlines, MRO organisations, ground handlers, airports and aerospace manufacturers, screening on licences and approvals as well as experience. Alliance places permanent employees only.
Licensed aircraft engineers and technicians, pilots, cabin crew, ground handling and ramp operations, airport and passenger services, and aviation management.
Yes, matched to approval scope and aircraft type rather than to a generic engineering title, because a licence that does not cover your fleet is not transferable.
Yes, screened on type rating, hours and currency.
Yes. Cabin crew are recruited in batches against your training intake dates, including in-market selection events where individual scheduling would miss the calendar.
No. We place permanent employees only. We do not supply contract crew, seasonal cover, wet-lease staffing, or agency shift workers.
A percentage of the hire’s first-year salary, payable on joining. For volume cabin crew and ground operations, we agree a fixed per-placement fee instead.
Ground operations and cabin crew: shortlist in 10 to 15 working days. Licensed engineers and technical roles: 3 to 5 weeks, because the approval-matched pool is small. Management: 4 to 6 weeks.
India and the Gulf are our deepest markets, alongside Southeast Asia, and we operate across 36 countries.
Yes, including station managers, operations leadership and technical management.
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