Aviation 5.0: catalyst for workforce sustainability

Abstract

This paper introduces Aviation 5.0 as an industry-specific instantiation of the Industry 5.0 paradigm, constituted by three interdependent principles: human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience, reinterpreted within aviation’s distinctive operational, regulatory, and safety context. Building on the historical evolution from Aviation 1.0 to 4.0, and through a synthesis of Industry 5.0 literature and aviation-specific research, the paper develops a five-layer conceptual framework that structures the relationships between core principles, enabling technologies, aviation domains, system outcomes, and continuous alignment. Aviation 5.0 is explicitly distinguished from Aviation 4.0, which pursued efficiency through digital transformation, by its value-driven orientation: it asks not what technology can do, but what technology should do and for whom, within boundary conditions defined by safety primacy, internationally coordinated regulation, and certified human capital. The framework is applied to workforce sustainability as the critical domain where these principles are most urgently needed. Focusing on three core dimensions (workforce supply and continuity, training quality and adaptability, and worker well-being, inclusion and organizational support). The paper examines how demographic shifts, technological disruption, and declining career attractiveness threaten the industry, and demonstrates how enabling technologies can drive positive workforce outcomes across ecosystem levels. The paper concludes with policy, practice, and research recommendations to operationalize the framework globally, positioning Aviation 5.0 as a foundation for future empirical research and a catalyst for a more resilient, inclusive, and future-ready aviation industry.