What is GAAST?
What is GAAST doing?
- Bringing together states, regulators and industry to pool resources and collaborate on workforce challenges through the Global Aviation and Aerospace Skills Taskforce.
Why are we doing it?
- Workforce challenges are threatening the resilience of the system now and in the longer term to adapt to growing demand, new technologies and decarbonisation. International co-ordination to recognise the issue and subsequent action, including to support inclusion, will more effectively address workforce resilience.
How will we achieve it?
- Build a repository of best practice and case studies for the attraction and retention of skilled talent
- Draw on examples through a global community
- Demonstrate the work of the GAAST at the ICAO 42nd Assembly in 2025
- Contribute to the ICAO Next Generation of Aviation Professionals programme
- Industry, states and regulators continuing to work in collaboration to more effectively address the issue.
Core Objectives
- Sharing of best practices and experiences
- Creation of catalogues of measures for implementation by States and Industry
- Broaden the reach of actions taken by individual actors to increase their impact
- Enhance collaboration and coordination of programmes and measures
- Contribute to the work of ICAO’s Next Generation of Aviation Professionals Programme
Taskforce Membership
Taskforce Structure
ICCAIA is proud to Chair the GAAST, alongside the Vice Chair from the UK Department for Transport. The Steering Group is made up from States, Industry Organizations (as well as a representative from their membership), and the leads from each workstream. For further information, please contact secretariat@gaast.aero
Next Steps
Following a very productive meeting in Brazil, hosted by ANAC in April, the second meeting of the full taskforce took place in November 2024 in Abu Dhabi, kindly hosted by GCAA.
The meeting identified clear short and long term deliverables for each of the workstreams, high level requirements for a repository of information and looked into initial analysis and findings from two surveys conducted by GAAST.
Next steps will be to fully define the repository and build a prototype website, with materials from all workstreams. This will form that basis for sharing information globally for the benefit of States and industry, and will contain case studies, examples, best practices and checklists to address attraction and retention of skilled talent across all areas of the sector.