The News
The people who keep planes flying are retiring faster than the industry can replace them, and it’s now mainstream news. Per Oliver Wyman data reported by CNN in February, North America is running about 17,000 aircraft technicians short, roughly 45,000 more are expected to retire over the next decade, and the shortfall is projected to peak in 2028 at as many as 30,000 mechanics.
What that looks like on the ground is the interesting part. At Cincinnati State’s aviation maintenance program, enrollment is surging — 185 students, expanding toward 350 — and employers show up before graduation. In the words of instructor Ken Rohling: “Basically they come in and say, ‘we will take every one of you when you get your license.’” One student there told CNN that entry-level pay in the Ohio region is approaching $28–30 an hour — for a job that requires no four-year degree.
The supply side is genuinely trying: the FAA issued 9,013 new mechanic certificates in 2024, the second-highest total since records began in 1999, per the ATEC/Oliver Wyman pipeline report. It’s still not enough — the average working mechanic is 54 years old, the pipeline of military technicians converting to civilian work keeps shrinking, and, strangely, about a third of A&P training seats sit empty even while some schools hold waitlists.
One honest caveat: a 2023 GAO audit concluded the data was too thin to prove a shortage. But the newest industry numbers — and the behavior of employers, who are paying relocation costs and lining up at schools — all point the same direction.
Why It Matters
This is the classic overlooked aerospace career. Everyone knows about pilots; almost nobody tells students that the median aircraft mechanic made $78,680 in May 2024, that the top 10% earn over $120,000, and that the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 13,100 openings every year through 2034. The work is hands-on, it can’t be outsourced or done remotely, and demand tends to be more resilient than pilot hiring in downturns — planes need maintenance whether or not airlines are expanding — though it isn’t immune: the post-9/11 hiring freeze CNN describes created the “lost generation” of mechanics the industry is still paying for.
The credential that unlocks it is the A&P certificate — an FAA mechanic certificate with Airframe and Powerplant ratings. Per the FAA, there are three ways to qualify for the tests:
- Graduate from an FAA-approved school (an Aviation Maintenance Technician School, certificated under Part 147) — there are 208 of them; programs commonly run about 18–24 months
- Document practical experience: 18 months working on airframes or powerplants for a single rating, or 30 months doing both for the full A&P — no school required
- Military aviation maintenance experience, via the Joint Service credentialing course
All three routes end the same way: FAA written, oral, and practical tests. The experience route (option 2) is the one almost nobody tells students about — you can be paid to work in a shop while accumulating the experience that qualifies you for the certificate.
Career Connection
- Aviation Maintenance pathway — our step-by-step guide, including visiting an A&P school and the under-the-radar experience path.
- The skills stack with where the industry is going: predictive maintenance is one of aviation’s most active AI frontiers — see Learn Predictive Maintenance and AI.
If you like fixing things more than flying them, this may be the strongest supply-demand imbalance in all of aerospace right now — and unlike most careers on this site, you can start the clock at 18 with no degree.
Go Deeper
- FAA: Become an Aviation Mechanic — the official certification requirements
- CNN’s report from inside a Part 147 school
- Our Aviation Maintenance pathway