First, you should know that the contemporary name for a mechanic is aviation maintenance technician, or simply AMT. This more professional-sounding moniker was adopted by the FAA several years ago, in part to acknowledge the demanding role of today's aircraft specialist. Turning a wrench and changing oil filters is only a small part of the task. Troubleshooting sophisticated mechanical and electronic systems takes a new breed of technician who is well-trained, state-of-the-art literate, and uniquely talented.
Chances are that you haven't seriously considered a career as an AMT. This magazine is, after all, about flight training. Nonetheless, earning both pilot and aircraft maintenance credentials is a potent combination for success and longevity in an aviation career.
Airlines flying venerable, tri-crew airplanes such as the Boeing 747/100 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 often recruit pilots with an airframe and powerplant (A) certificate-the essential FAA document for career technicians-to man the flight engineer panel before moving to a window seat.
Many corporate and air taxi flight departments place high value on the individual who can both fly and fix an aircraft. Consider the small company with a cabin-class twin. When the machine is in the hangar for days at a time because the movers and shakers have nowhere to go, the pilot remains on the payroll by virtue of the A capability. Downtime means routine maintenance?and work for the pilot who is not airborne that day.
Beginning an airline career as an AMT could also put you on a faster track to a flight officer interview. Some major airlines will grant interviews to pilot-qualified employees once they have served in another capacity with the company for a year. Spending that first year at a maintenance base rather than pitching bags at the airline's terminal does have more appeal. Also, individuals with a maintenance background have the potential for becoming excellent academic instructors at the carrier's training center.
Rick Albin, who was recently hired by Great Lakes Airlines, credits his A background with being a prime factor in launching his flying career. "A few months ago when I was searching for work around the Denver area, I had a difficult time finding a flight instructor position. I had relatively low time. Although CFI hiring is at a high pace, it is still quite competitive in this region. With a family, I needed a steady source of income. I just could not rely on being paid for a couple of hours of flight training here and there. Fortunately, an FBO [fixed-base operator] at the Boulder Airport was in need of a mechanic. I started work immediately. When I wasn't teaching chandelles in the Cessna TR-182, I was maintaining it and conducting 100-hour inspections. Now that I'm ready to head to the airlines, I have some comfort in knowing that if I find myself without a medical someday, or if I face that nasty process called 'furlough,' I'm equipped to keep food on the table. Besides, when I finally purchase my own plane, I'll be able to repair it myself and save a bundle!"
The aviator who has maintenance expertise is in a special position. Aside from more career security, the AMT who is also a flier has a unique perspective of and appreciation for the machine. But there is also a need for individuals who are committed to keeping aircraft airworthy?whether they fly 'em or not.
Aviation maintenance technicians encompass airframe and powerplant, avionics, and instrument repairmen. They are responsible for keeping aircraft operating safely and efficiently. To this end, they service, repair, and overhaul aircraft components and systems such as airframes, engines, electrical and hydraulic systems, propellers, avionics, and other equipment. The work is changing rapidly because of advances in computer technology, electronics, and composite structural materials.
AMTs employed by the airlines perform line maintenance work on in-service aircraft as well as scheduled inspections and airframe alterations at an overhaul and maintenance base. The work of technicians in general aviation is similar, although they often work on small piston-engine as well as larger turbine-powered aircraft.
FAA mechanic certificates (yes, the FAA still uses the old "mechanic" name in some of the rules) are issued upon successful completion of written, oral, and practical examinations. An FAA-certificated technician may have an airframe rating, a powerplant rating, or both. That person can only work on the specific parts of the aircraft for which he or she is rated, qualified, and equipped.
The FAA requirements associated with certification are currently specified in Part 65 of the federal aviation regulations (FARs) and can be reviewed on the AOPA Web site (www.aopa.org/ members/files/fars/index.shtml). The regulations specify that every candidate must pass written, oral, and practical tests after either obtaining necessary experience or graduating from an FAA-approved school. Such schools are governed by FAR Part 147, which can also be perused on the AOPA Web site.
Full-time, rewarding jobs at FBOs, corporate aircraft bases, airlines, and manufacturers have never been easier to obtain. Pilot or not, there is a surge in demand for qualified maintenance personnel that is expected to increase for the foreseeable future.
The best estimates indicate that there are 137,000 people currently employed nationwide as aviation technicians. Of those, about 52 percent, or 71,000, are employed by the airlines. Some 21,000, or 16 percent, work at FBOs, repair stations, and other maintenance facilities. Approximately 14,000, some 10 percent, work directly for manufacturers. About 30,000, nearly 22 percent, occupy supervisory, support, pilot, and other roles.
According to trade groups such as the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) and the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), the industry requires 10,000 to 12,000 additional technicians a year to replace retirees and fill new positions. In 1998, only 7,400 new AMTs were certified, down 20 percent from 1988. About 37 percent of technicians earn $20,800 to $32,700 annually. Better than 55 percent make more than $32,760 annually.
The FAA suspected that a shortage of AMTs was inevitable as early as 1993. That year, the FAA published its landmark study Pilots and Aviation Maintenance Technicians for the Twenty-First Century. It concludes, "?the future number of adequately trained technicians is likely to be insufficient to meet the air transportation industry's increasing demand." The report states further, "A decreasing supply of qualified AMTs, combined with increasing skill and experience requirements, will yield a deficit not in the number of minimally qualified individuals but in the number with the necessary skills and experience."
Now, nearly seven years later, the FAA's report has proven to be correct. Virtually all segments of the aviation industry are expressing deep concern about the shortage.
At a recent conference, the National Business Aviation Association's (NBAA) Fred Kirby said, "[Manufacturers] are selling more airplanes than they can build and delivering more airplanes than they can maintain. Why? Because of a shortage of people in all segments. Manufacturers can't build airplanes any faster because they can't get people. They are turning away business because they can't get trained, qualified people."
Stan Mackiewicz, president of PAMA, the industry's lead trade organization, said, "I began my work with PAMA in 1995. At that time, one of the things that I heard immediately was, 'We can't find qualified maintenance personnel.' Well, three years ago, what people meant was that they couldn't find people who could step into a position and fill all their needs without making much of a training investment. Well, that's not true today. We simply can't find maintenance personnel today."
The causes for the shortfall are many:
- The aviation industry is growing at the rate of close to 7 percent annually. Commercial air traffic is expected to increase 5 percent yearly through at least 2010. Nearly 17,000 new transport-category aircraft will enter service in the next 20 years. All of this means an unprecedented demand for A and other support personnel.
- Fewer people are entering the maintenance career track. Aviation does not quite hold the luster for young people that some newer, high-tech professions do.
- The most experienced people, who earned their maintenance skills as servicemen and -women during previous wars, are retiring.
- Many maintenance professionals are exiting the pipeline midstream. These folks are departing aviation for jobs in other fields, like the automotive, communications, and computer industries. In many cases, the deciding factors are higher salaries and better benefit packages. Some estimate that about 40 percent of new aviation maintenance professionals are wooed to other industries immediately after graduation.
To put it into perspective, industry sources predict that 50,000 new maintenance students will need to enter training each year to mitigate the shortage. The question is how to attract people into the maintenance career path?
In its study of the state of maintenance careers, the FAA makes this proposal: "The fundamental solution is to focus education and training programs on meeting the demands of the various segments of the air transportation industry. The key to achieving this solution is to create an industry, school, and government coalition that will define needs, develop standards, and create oversight, thus providing the industry with the best-trained and safest personnel in the world."
One major consortium is the Aviation Technician Educational Council (ATEC). ATEC currently has 151 "institutional members" representing 86 percent of the 175 FAA-approved aviation maintenance technician schools. The organization comprises four-year colleges and universities such as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Utah State; two-year, state-funded and -regulated community colleges such as Columbus State Community College and South Seattle Community College; and technical and vocational-technical schools such as the Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Hallmark institutes. ATEC's mission is to promote mutually beneficial relationships between FAA-approved maintenance technician schools, the aviation industry, and government agencies. Vince Jones, president of ATEC, says that his group is actively pursuing a recruitment and career education program to introduce students to life as an AMT. It has produced a video titled Nowhere To Go But Up-A Career in Aviation Maintenance and maintains a Web site for prospective AMT students (www.atec-amt.com).
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is credited with organizing an aggressive initiative to bring together industry and academia to address the labor shortage problem. Earlier this year, a group of 80 attendees gathered for the "Bridging the Technician Gap" conference in Daytona Beach, Florida, to develop long-term approaches for promoting aviation maintenance as a career. "It is technical people who keep these planes in the air," said Fred Mirgle, an ERAU technology professor. "The industry is hurting for these people." With that wake-up call, the "MakeItFly" campaign was launched as an industry education and recruitment effort (www.makeitfly.com).
For any reader answering the call, a career as an aviation maintenance technician can begin with enrollment at a four-year university, at the local community college for a two-year program or night-school classes, or at a proprietary school such as Spartan or Colorado Aero Tech. For more information on schools in your area, consult the ATEC member directory on the group's Web site.
You could become part of the solution to the shortage by tooling up for an aviation maintenance career.
Experience And Skill Requirements
Sec. 65.77 Experience Requirements:
Each applicant for a mechanic certificate or rating must present either an appropriate graduation certificate or certificate of completion from a certificated aviation maintenance technician school or documentary evidence, satisfactory to the Administrator, of: (a) at least 18 months of practical experience with the procedures, practices, materials, tools, machine tools, and equipment generally used in constructing, maintaining, or altering airframes, or powerplants appropriate to the rating sought; or (b) at least 30 months of practical experience concurrently performing the duties appropriate to both the airframe and powerplant ratings.
Sec. 65.79 Skill Requirements:
Each applicant for a mechanic certificate or rating must pass an oral and a practical test on the rating he or she seeks. The tests cover the applicant's basic skill in performing practical projects on the subjects covered by the written test for that rating. An applicant for a powerplant rating must show his ability to make satisfactory minor repairs to, and minor alterations of, propellers.
Sec. 65.80 Certificated Aviation Maintenance Technician School Students:
Whenever an aviation maintenance technician school certificated under Part 147 of this chapter shows to an FAA inspector that any of its students has made satisfactory progress at the school and is prepared to take the oral and practical tests prescribed by Sec. 65.79, that student may take those tests during the final subjects of his training in the approved curriculum, before he meets the applicable experience requirements of Sec. 65.77 and before he passes each section of the written test prescribed by Sec. 65.75.
