I have a nephew who is very mechanically inclined and interested in an 18 month Aviation Maintenance Technology certificate program offered at his local Community College. Course work is FAA accredited, so upon completion he could take the FAA exam.

Can any of you currently in the field offer any insights to the career field? Specific areas to focus on that have more demand and or work.

What’s the general outlook for new folks interested in A&P mechanics careers?

Thanks in advance!

I have made a life of it. Jobs are always there if you are willing to re locate. easily a 6 figure income with the overtime most places require you to work. Smaller airports wont pay well for most, Working for a bigger Airliner or transport company pays well.

SWA is always looking for mechanics. Wage rates, profit sharing and 401k info:
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My daughter started working as an A&P at a growing GA shop in January. She's loving it.

I've had my A&P since 2008. Currently working line maintenance at a regional airline, and I'm pretty happy here. I've worked at two other airlines, and while I'm grateful for the experience, I'm glad I don't work for them anymore.

Line maintenance isn't really for beginners, but I don't worry about this work being outsourced overseas.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in here!

My nephew mentioned he’s been surprised that everyone he’s talked to in the industry had positive outlook for the career path. Of course there was some criticism, but the underlying tone was good work and people…

A military enlistment is always a good option also.  You'll be able to get your A&P for free after your training is complete and you get a few years of experience that pays well.  
While you're in you can knock out some college courses for free on your own time and when you get out you also have the GI Bill so you can go to college or get more vocational training for free.

Plenty of work out there for A&P mechanics and avionics.  I've been in the industry almost 34 years, mostly in avionics, now I'm a preflight inspector.

General Aviation pays the least but can be beneficial due to work close to home.  MRO's (maintenance repair overhaul) facilities are a good place to obtain commercial aviation experience.  There is also Corporate, military contracting work and helicopter maintenance.

You will always have a job as an A&P mechanic or avionics tech if you are willing to go where the work is.

In my experience, sheet metal mechanics have made the most money if you are good at what you do.  I know plenty of guys making $200K plus with overtime.

I work in aviation, and the average age of A/P technicians in N America is 55. Schools are not graduating enough students to keep up with retirement rates. The wages will only increase and we are currently doing military pathway and high school programs to attract and retain technicians.

It has been very good for me. I would recommend it to any young person who is mechanically inclined and willing to learn. Most carriers have programs so you get out of school debt-free and have a job when you are done.


Negatives: Night shift and crappy days off until you have seniority. Young people tend to do better with modern E e-enabled aircraft because they are flying computers and technicians are mostly parts changers now.

If you are skilled in avionics or sheet metal you will never be out of work. Like most mechanics jobs the cream will rise to the top

Irish

Everybody is hurting for people, jobs are everywhere, I could quit today and have a job offer before the weekend, probably for more money.

The mechanic shortage that was promised to me in 1982 is now here.

I will second the statement, helicopters or avionics, you can always find a good paying job.

Also, expect shift work, days, nights, mids, weekends.

One thing to keep in mind is that the first A&P job he gets probably won't be so great. It's a stepping stone to get to some place better. I'm very happy with where I work, but I wouldn't know just how good I have it without having worked at a few bad places first.

We are going to  need more mechanics in the future.

The biggest warning I give to a lot newbies. Always learn and do new stuff, don't be afraid to ask questions, get dirty, and don't fuck it up for yourself and develop a bad reputation. It is a small world.

Yep.  I had worked several jobs that were contracted for a certain number of months, or until a project was completed, then hit a period of being told that I didn't have enough years of experience to be hired.  I eventually applied at a place that a couple other mechanics had told me I did NOT want to work there.  Got the job, and it was its own unique version of hell.  A few months later, the whole mess with the divorce started, and my lawyer told me that I needed to be able to show as much job security as I could in the custody battle, since changing jobs would be frowned on by the judge.  That dragged out for a year and a half, then it took another half year or so for the shop manager to piss me off enough to look around at what other jobs were available in the area.

I discovered that having spent a couple years working at a shop that was known for having a high turnover meant far more in the process of applying for a mechanic job, than all of my previous jobs combined.  I ended up staying at that job for several more years (you can eventually get used to a lot of things), and it has now been over two decades since I had a current resume' or was asked to fill out an application before getting an interview.  A big part of it is having worked with various people at past jobs and people hearing things through the local grapevine, but a few years working in hell gives those people plenty to say about you.

One note of caution for the military route is to be careful of the actual career field.
I have a buddy who was active now army guard as a UH-72 crew chief. He went through the mechanics school and got his A&P but has zero actual experience to translate to actual A&P work. The focus he had was on composites but if there is any work to be done on the airframe it all gets contracted out. They order a new complete part/assembly and a guy comes from the manufacturer and swaps it out.

If you’ve seen my thread on my RV-7 build, he’s super excited to come over and actually learn some stuff. He’s never done sheet metal work, avionics or engine work. Still has that FAA A&P card in his wallet, but doesn’t know enough to actually be able to use it on the civilian side.

I live near Fort Bragg and spend a lot of time around both MCAS in NC. I used to be stationed in VA Beach when I was in the Army and spent a lot of time between Oceana, NAS Norfolk and Langley-Eustis.

All the branches heavily utilize contract maintainers for varying levels of work. It's super common for servicemembers in these fields to ETS and come back to work in the same place doing almost the same work for more money and a better schedule.

They can also easily move if they want a change of scenery.

A coworker's husband is a former USMC maintainer and went this route after one enlistment. They've moved a few times just to live in different places because it was was easy for him to transfer to a different base or switch to a company that had an opening at a location they wanted. Now they have 2 kids and he works at Bragg so they could be close to the grandparents.

There's plenty of options in all branches for mechanics - What you do depends heavily on what job you enlist for and what sort of units you get assigned to.  

In the Army, I would recommend you avoid anything to do with airplanes and lakotas - maintenance on those are heavily(sometimes completely) dependent on civilian contracts.  Many mechanics assigned to them wind up as flight attendants serving coffee to VIPs, checking oil and paying for fuel at the FBO, painting rocks, and many other non-mechanic related duties.  

Hubby just retired from a nearly 40 year career as an A+P. He worked on Gulfstream jets. He loved every minute of it.