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Do you want the good or bad news first? Delivering the good news first seems best.
Enrollment in airframe and powerplant (A&P) schools in the U.S. has been slowly increasing the past decade. The FAA issued more than 9,000 new mechanic certificates in 2024, according to the Aviation Technician Education Council and Oliver Wyman’s Pipeline Report, and more students are enrolling in U.S. aviation maintenance schools.
But as Lindsay Bjerregaard reports in her feature about how airlines, MROs and schools are trying to keep students in school and take the A&P test upon completion—the latter part poses major problems for many. “If there’s a job waiting for them where they don’t need their certificate, they may take the path of least resistance,” says Suzanne Markle, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics. Lindsay provides more details about this, but it strikes me that this is an opportunity for the industry to help schools get students to the finish line and then launch their aviation career.
For instance, Horizon Air offers a $10,500 stipend for school and up to $1,800 for A&P testing fees. How many companies are doing something similar? If you are, please let me know. I’d also love to hear if your company visits A&P schools to talk about available jobs or offers other assistance to students to help them pay for school and/or help them surpass the barriers to A&P testing.
Could the industry volunteer to help students prep for the test? Think of various test prep services for college admission exams—from tutors to online services. Well before aviation maintenance students finish school, if they spoke with aviation companies that are hiring and could get a pep talk about the importance of taking the exam because of the career possibilities it provides—maybe that could switch their near-term thinking to a long-term vision. When you’re grinding through school and don’t have much time or money, of course, taking the easier-to-get job might seem like the better option. However, A&P students entered school training for a career in aviation—so maybe a bit of MRO and airline company encouragement is needed before the test stage.
Aviation Week hosted 60 high school and college students from underrepresented populations at MRO Americas on April 22 to expose them to aviation and the MRO industry. Students were curious and seemed awed by the many career options in aviation MRO, but a common question was: How do students pay for A&P school? Are there scholarships? They got excited about the career prospects but saw a barrier to entry. Our lesson learned was: We need to provide school and scholarship information as part of our follow-up to students.
Helping A&P students throughout their journey is a team effort for our industry. How can we do better? Please reach out to me with your ideas. Thanks!
Lastly, the FAA reopened its Aviation Maintenance Technical Workforce Development Grant Program, designed to help organizations strengthen the aviation maintenance technician pipeline. The program awards up to $1 million and applications are due June 22, so consider applying.
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