A Dearth of Qualified AMTs Means Better Pay & Nifty Perks for Willing Candidates

Embry Riddle Aeronautical University says that industry contacts are getting even hungrier for additional maintenance personnel, to the point that seemingly nothing is off the table, from higher salaries and bonuses to free tools and chests. 

In an event hosting professionals at the school’s David B. O’Maley College of Business last spring, attending executives repeatedly brought up the dearth of qualified technicians as a continuing bugbear for them all. It’s a problem that has grown particularly acute following the 2020 economic shakeup, the result of a conflux of lockdowns, economic uncertainty, and irregular student recruiting as schools sought to comply with local regulations across the country. The interruption led to a drop in incoming students to the training pipeline that took even more vital candidates that were already aerospace in general. Steve Boecker, exec in Delta TechOps’ Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul division, painted a very rosy picture for those willing to join the industry. 

“For those of you who want to become an aircraft maintenance technician, and you’re qualified and certified, you can almost name your price.” He’s far from the only one sounding the alarm. The US Bureau of Labor sees spry growth in the sector, with aviation maintenance careers expected to grow by 11% to the overall trend of 8% in the country overall. That growth means some fine opportunities for those interested in coming aboard. Rick Hale, chairman of Winner Aviation Corporation, told attendees last spring that techs will even find themselves courted by prospective employers. 

“We’ve had to get pretty creative in how we go after them. The segment is offering a lot of perks right now to students just coming out of school, with signing bonuses, tool chests, tools, and other training perks being offered.” Embry Riddle echoed the sentiment, and associate professor Charles Horning says today’s graduates face a very accommodating job field, with a lot more to choose from compared to earlier classes. In years prior many graduating students of the Aviation Maintenance Science program were faced with a choice between traditional air carriers or general aviation.

Now, thanks in some small part to the varied happenings of 2020, graduates have a field full of options, from corporate aviation, uncrewed systems, and even the burgeoning space industry.

Horning says they’re ready for the recent FAA AMT training changes, too. Schools will soon be able to use more simulation-based tools like virtual reality, augmented imagery, and digital training tools to give students a wider breadth of experience at a much lower cost. All of these avenues open up that can enhance the student’s understanding of a subject and help them to grasp that material faster,” he said. “With the new FAA rules, we’re going to have a lot more freedom in choosing the correct mode of learning delivery. Students today have so many opportunities, it’s just phenomenal.” 

FMI: www.erau.edu