The Industry That Never Closes – Looking After Your Team Through the Holiday Season

In the aviation industry, the term “holiday” often refers to a customer experience rather than downtime for staff. For Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) companies and airlines, the holiday season presents unique challenges as increased demand and the need to maintain high standards must be balanced with providing support for the dedicated workforce.

This article explores ways MRO and airline teams can prioritise their people during this season, maintain peak performance, and use technology to relieve the pressure of this relentless industry.

The Pressures of Peak Demand

Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year are some of the busiest air travel periods each year and in the UK, more people are flying on bank holiday weekends than before. For example, Friday 23rd August 2024 was extremely busy, with 3,243 departures scheduled, (a 4% increase compared to the same bank holiday weekend in 2023). 12,000 departures were scheduled across the whole weekend. 

In the US, records were broken when the Transport Security Administration (TSA) reported that the total number of people that had passed through their security checkpoints reached 3,013,622. This was the first time the total had ever exceeded 3 million. If this is an indicator of what’s to come, perhaps the holiday season this year will be busier than ever. 

With more flights comes more preventive maintenance and unforeseen repairs, with sudden spikes in last-minute work orders, inspections, and part replacements heightening the pressure on maintenance teams. 

In addition, the seasonal surge often coincides with limited staffing availability, as team members may need time off. This creates a difficult balancing act; managing the day-to-day operational challenges while striving to meet employees’ well-deserved needs for rest and spending time with their loved ones.

Below are a few considerations to keep in mind for a successful and supportive holiday season.

Building a Holiday Strategy 

Creating Fair Schedules

Creating a fair holiday schedule is a priority for any employer, but it’s not an easy task. Equitable time-off rotations are essential for maintaining morale, and managers should plan holiday schedules well in advance, engaging team members in the process to ensure that preferences are taken into account whenever possible.

Including flexibility in the schedule and implementing a rotation system helps distribute workloads more evenly, allowing more team members to enjoy a break.

Encouraging Rest 

Fatigue, especially during high-stress seasons, can lead to oversights that affect safety. In fact, Deloitte’s Workplace Burnout Survey shows that 91% of participants said having an unmanageable amount of stress or frustration negatively impacts the quality of their work. 

In addition, having a passion for their job doesn’t guarantee employees won’t experience stress or burnout – 87% of participants said they have a passion for their current job, of which 64% said they are frequently stressed. 

What’s more, almost 70% of participants stated that their employers aren’t doing enough to prevent or alleviate burnout. The top cause of burnout was a lack of support from leadership.

A survey by Ciphr on common causes of stress for adults in the UK found that feeling tired or not getting enough sleep was the top cause of stress, affecting 41% of participants. 28% also attributed stress to their workload and 18% to their working hours.  

Tiredness in Aviation MRO and Safety Incidents

Baines Simmons Safety Services discusses data on aviation safety and tiredness specifically when it comes to MRO. Surveys of aircraft maintenance engineers and their employers revealed that the main issues include rotating shifts, night shifts, and working long hours without breaks. 

Night shifts and weekly rotations presented the greatest risk of accidents. Issues that can occur due to fatigue include difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, and taking shortcuts. 

How to Manage Aircraft Technician Fatigue During the Holiday Season 

Encouraging regular breaks and ensuring all staff have adequate downtime between shifts is crucial all year round, and it’s important to maintain this approach during the holidays, despite increased or unpredictable demand. 

Proactively addressing health and safety concerns and ensuring compliance with safety protocols helps companies minimise the risks. Baines Simmons suggests the following: 

• Monitoring fatigue as a safety hazard within your safety management system.
• Working with known physical limitations (such as workload parameters and circadian rhythms).
• Structuring tasks, breaks and routines based on peak alertness periods. 
• Frequently checking in with staff about their fatigue levels.
• Providing the flexibility to adjust schedules, breaks, and tasks. 
• Providing support for issues that affect an employee’s ability to get enough rest, whether that pertains to childcare, suitable sleeping facilities (if provided by the company), and mental health support. 
• Establishing a defined ‘stop point’ if pressures accumulate to the point where an employee is overburdened. 
• Adapting to seasonal differences by sourcing extra staff and resources. 

Showing Recognition

Making a point of recognising the hard work and dedication from team members throughout the year is important. Celebrating individual and team achievements shows appreciation for the personal sacrifices many employees make during this time of year and sets things off on a positive note for the next year. Gestures like holiday bonuses or even a simple ‘thank you’ email or public acknowledgment during a team meeting can make a huge difference.

Creating a Supportive Holiday Work Environment

Small touches can make the workplace more inviting during the holiday season and create a warm atmosphere. A few examples include adding holiday decorations, arranging small celebrations, or organising team events to boost morale. This environment can be particularly meaningful for team members who have to work long hours or stay away from family.

Using Aviation MRO Software to Lighten the Load

While it’s not always possible to offer everyone the time off they want, aviation solutions can help reduce the strain. The effective use of MRO software supports teams in managing complex workloads, organising resources, and reducing administrative tasks, allowing team members to focus on critical maintenance tasks. Here’s how airline MRO software can help ease the pressure.

Streamlining Work Orders and Maintenance Tracking

Despite the holiday season’s high traffic and surge in work orders, MRO operations must continue as normal, which makes efficient management a necessity.

Cloud based aviation MRO software enables maintenance managers and technicians to access job details, receive notifications, and track job progress on a single platform from any device connected to the internet. This simplifies job tracking and cuts down on the need for constant status updates, letting technicians focus more on their work than on administrative follow-ups.

Advanced Inventory Management Tools

Naturally, the demand for parts can be unpredictable during peak seasons. A well-integrated MRO system can give teams real-time inventory visibility and provide alerts for low stock levels. 

With OASES’ Materials Management module, you can set up automatic shortage management which ensures that the parts needed for urgent repairs or preventive maintenance are readily available without staff having to chase down critical components at the last minute. In addition, it enables RFID Tool Control so that technicians never need to waste time looking for parts of a tool kit. 

Reducing Manual Data Entry and Reporting

Aircraft maintenance software can automate tasks such as reporting, compliance tracking, and maintenance record-keeping, so staff don’t need to spend hours dealing with paperwork. They can then redirect that time and attention to tasks that directly impact fleet reliability and safety.

Providing Remote Access and Support

Cloud based MRO platforms enable remote access, which allows management and off-site staff to support maintenance personnel without needing to be on-site themselves. In cases of unforeseen disruptions, technicians can access instructions or consult with remote experts in real-time, minimising downtime.

Long-Term Benefits of an Effective Holiday Strategy

Creating a supportive strategy for the holiday season doesn’t only help companies in the short term – it also helps establish a culture of loyalty, satisfaction, and resilience. 

Building Team Resilience

A team that feels supported is more resilient. When technicians, planners, and managers know their well-being is a priority, it reduces stress and strengthens commitment, making them better equipped to face the industry’s high-pressure demands.

Reducing Employee Turnover and Attracting New Staff

Employee turnover comes with a high price in any company. While the holiday season is only a few weeks each year, companies that go out of their way to support their teams during this time send a powerful message of commitment.

The worker shortage is ongoing, so showing respect for team members’ time and well-being can make MROs more attractive to current and future employees.

The research by Deloitte that we mentioned earlier also shows how important preventing burnout is, in terms of retention. Almost 50% of the millennials surveyed said they had left a job due to burnout compared to 42% of all respondents. Gen Z are known to have high expectations of employers as well, so this trend is not likely to go away any time soon. 

Enhancing Your Competitive Advantage

MRO companies that prioritise employee well-being and use advanced tools for managing workloads, such as aviation maintenance software, are more likely to maintain consistent service levels. With a reliable team and efficient processes, they can better meet client expectations during peak seasons and establish themselves as leaders in their field.

Conclusion

While the aviation industry never sleeps, that doesn’t mean its staff can’t. Planning a strategy to support your people during the busiest periods will help more employees get time off when preferred, help them get the rest they need, boost team spirit and ultimately, reduce the chance of safety risks.  

Companies can get through the season easier with aviation MRO software – and in this article, we’ve only scratched the surface of how it helps.

In a nutshell, cloud based software is the key to operational efficiency, automating processes and reducing burdensome admin. It also makes day to day tasks more convenient for technicians thanks to mobile access. Other benefits we could go into include analysing data to further streamline operations and be better prepared for next year’s holiday season. 

OASES comes with a suite of modules that streamline every area of maintenance, from scheduling to tracking jobs to managing compliance – and beyond. To learn more or request a demo, contact us today.