The official numbers
Per the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, aircraft mechanics and service technicians earned a median of $78,680 as of May 2024, and avionics equipment technicians $81,390. Employment is projected to grow 5% from 2024 to 2034 with roughly 13,100 openings per year, driven heavily by retirements in an aging workforce.
Those medians understate the ceiling. Major airlines pay on seniority scales where senior A&P mechanics with line experience commonly exceed $100,000, plus shift premiums, license premiums, and overtime that is chronically available in a mechanic-short industry.
Where the pay differs
Employer type creates the biggest spread. Major passenger and cargo airlines top the market. MRO shops (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) pay less but hire the most entry-level mechanics and provide the fastest experience accumulation. General aviation, small shops and flight schools, pays least but offers the broadest hands-on variety. Corporate and business aviation sits between MRO and the majors, often with better schedules.
Holding both Airframe and Powerplant ratings is effectively mandatory for the good jobs, and an Inspection Authorization (IA) later adds another premium tier.
The path in, briefly
The FAA requires either graduating from a Part 147 aviation maintenance technician school, historically around 1,900+ curriculum hours and now competency-based under the 2022 rule change, or documenting 18 months of practical experience per rating (30 months for both) before sitting the exams, per the FAA's certification requirements. Either way, certification ends with written, oral, and practical tests covering General, Airframe, and Powerplant knowledge.
The written exams are the study-intensive portion, three separate tests with their own question banks, and structured practice across all 27 subject areas is how most candidates prepare efficiently.
The shortage economics behind the pay
Aviation maintenance is living through a demographic squeeze: a large share of the certificated workforce is at or near retirement age while air traffic keeps growing, and the training pipeline has not kept pace. That is why the BLS projects steady openings, roughly 13,100 per year, and why airlines that once required years of experience now run apprenticeship pipelines, tuition sponsorships, and signing bonuses.
For someone choosing a skilled trade, the practical implication is leverage: new A&Ps can be selective about geography and employer in ways that most trades do not permit, and job security is about as strong as legally regulated scarcity can make it, since aircraft cannot fly without certificated maintenance sign-off.
The trade-offs are shift work, FAA-documented accountability for every signature, and physical hangar conditions. Against a no-degree median near $79,000, most people run that math favorably.
Earnings trajectory over an A&P career
The A&P earnings curve is steep early and seniority-driven late. New certificate holders in MRO shops commonly start in the $50,000s, but airline hiring timelines have compressed dramatically in the shortage era, and reaching a major carrier's seniority ladder within a few years puts mechanics on published step scales that climb toward and past six figures with line-maintenance premiums and license pay.
Overtime is the quiet multiplier across the industry: maintenance demand does not pause for staffing gaps, and mechanics report annual earnings 15 to 30% above base in chronically short stations.
Later-career leverage comes from the Inspection Authorization, lead and supervisory roles, and specializations like avionics, composites, or engine shops. Mechanics who transition into quality assurance, technical operations management, or FAA positions convert wrench experience into desk-career longevity once the physical demands of hangar work argue for it.
Certification maintenance is refreshingly light compared to most licensed careers: the A&P certificate itself does not expire, though exercising its privileges requires recent experience, and the FAA's recurrent requirements are modest. There are no continuing education fees eating into the salary figures above, which makes the net earnings comparison with other licensed trades even more favorable than the gross numbers suggest.