I'm going to school to be aircraft mechanic, did i make a good choice?

Question

Im going to school to be Aircraft Mechanic, I was wondering did i make a good choice? How much money do they make?

Answer 1

It depends on where you go in aviation.

First off, there are going to be lots of jobs, the old mechanics are dying off. Also the industry is in an upswing right now (but count on a downswing in a few years). I have been laid off 5 times (like let go and not asked to come back) due to shortages of work in the last 6 years.

Airlines:

Pros, good money, free flights?, union, benefits.

Cons: Endless graveyards, no variety, up and downs in work availability.

GenAV:

Pros: Decent Monday to Friday shifts (might be panics occasionally though), no big company BS, work is usually steady.

Cons: Low pay, no benefits, no frills, (although I get free use of a plane where I work).

Helicopters:

Pros: They are the coolest things on earth, good pay, good job security.

Cons: Working out in the bush for months.

Contract mechanic:

Pros: BIG money ($100K/yr and up)

Cons: Experience required, job security non-existent, long hours away from home, doing uninspiring jobs on terrible shifts.

Answer 2

Well putting my two cents for what its worth. I have been in aviation for 8 yrs now. I have worked from small cessna to the most modern b777 for AA. All I can say is that aircraft mechanics are a different breed of mechanic, the industry is really rough on you and on family. there is lots of travel and hard shift to work. I worked grave yard most of the time. It is very gratifing work but the company's BS knock the glory right out of you. The one thing that i learned that I know is real is that and aircraft mechanic will all ways have a job. Because the skill you will learn encompasses many skill in many trades like electrical, automotive, hydraulic , and electronics, I have worked my share of odd jobs that have paid pretty decent thanks to my A&P license and now after being layed off of American Airlines and living in different areas of the United States I find myself working at a nuclear power plant. Where i find many of ex A&P from the eastern and Pan AM era. So right now the industry is petty sucky as far as jobs and if we get another terrorist attact on the airline it will probably open the wound again, but the skills and what you learn is extremely valueable.

Answer 3

Jet Doc chime in on this one! I think Airframe and Power plant mechanics can make good money working on aircraft providing the company they work for allows money to go for mechanics not managers and sales people out looking for aircraft service contracts and buying advertisements. Good Workmanship either in the automobile or aircraft industry is what brings in the customers. The guys like jet doc and me on the automotive side are retiring and dying off and there just aren't any young blood who like to work long and hard on difficult machines. High tool bills unairconditioned hangers and garages. Or working on computers, networks and copy machines in airconditioning and clean hands.

Answer 4

Take it from a auto mechanic, Yes you did.
With the advancement in teck today and the fast pace of air travel, you made a good chose.
I have been repairing autos for oveer 35 years and there will always be a need for a mechanic in any field where the public is on the move.

Answer 5

I was in Aviation Maintenance for 20+ years, and don't regret the choice. As with most things in life, it's what you put into it that determines what you get out of it.

Pro - Pay can be very good. My best-paying job was $2,000 per week, including per diem and danger bonus. Of course, I was working 7 days/week, 12 hrs/day in a desert war zone. (That would be a con.) You may visit or be located in exotic locations. I've been paid to live in places that, growing up, I could only have dreamed of going to and would have had to pay big money to visit. Of course, one of those was a desert war zone. (That would be a con.) You'll meet good and interesting people. An aircraft mechanic friend of mine met his wife, then a flight attendant, at the airline we worked for. You may find little more professionally satisfying than seeing a bird into which you've poured your time and (in some cases literally) blood taking off in the bright morning sun. You'll develop skills that will stand you in good stead if you should consider alternate career paths in the future (I, too, am now employed in the power generation field).

Con - Pay can be dismal. My worst-paying job was $9.78/hr. Of course, that was in an overseas location (not a desert war zone, so that would be a pro) so it was Federal income tax-free, and food and lodging were provided so it wasn't as bad as all that. I was offered a job in southern California at $7.50/hr; I turned it down as I'd have been living in my car. You are very likely, at least starting out, to be in situations that will separate you from family and friends, either by working off shifts or by travelling to or living in locations away from 'home'. You may visit or be located in exotic locations. This CAN be a code word for 'third-world hellhole' (or even domestic hellhole - the longest year of my life was a summer spent in Deadhorse, Alaska on the sunny shores of the Beaufort (named for the guy after whom they also named the windscale) Sea of the Arctic Ocean). As an aircraft mechanic you will be working in all kinds of climatic conditions from baking heat to freezing cold (kneeling in a snowbank at 2:00 in the morning, changing the tire on a DC-10 while the temperature was 20 degrees Fahrenheit below zero and a raw wind was blowing in off the Minnesota River was what first prompted my considering a change in employment). The industry is very cyclical, so long-term employment prospects are shaky, though I think you're picking a good time to get on board since the industry is in a rebuilding mode right now. Unfortunately, another terrorist hijacking incident could damage the industry irreparably.

Aircraft Mechanicing can be exhilarating, frustrating, rewarding, frightening, and just about any other aspect of human emotion you care to name. Again, it depends on what you put into it as to what you get out of it. My hat is off to you for taking the plunge.

Answer 6

Get an ASE cert and work at a BMW dealer. You will make more money. A&P wages are bad in General Aviation, corporate jets its ok, and the airlines pay well.
I've been an A&P for 17 years. In hindsight I would have gone for something else.

Answer 7

Yes and no. Yes because there is a shortage of aircraft mechanics worldwide. No because of the responsibilty involved.

Answer 8

Will be a great job if you can find one. The airlines are always on strike for better wages it seems so I don't think the guys that are working for the airlines really know how much they make.

Answer 9

It depends on who they are employed by, and how long they have been working as a technician..

I'm in the RAF, I'm an Avionics technician, and earn about £23,000. I'm a low rank, so the money will only get better

Answer 10

Man you are lucky to be a mechanic at least you get to work on planes I'm only 14 I would love to work on them or at least fly them