Shhhhh…The Secret Way to Become an A&P Mechanic

If you want to be a well-paid, big-league aviation mechanic, you must have an A&P license. This is the key to a long, strong career - no college required. The best of the best are those who travel to planes wherever they are stuck and get them flying again. Big bux, kudos, and international road trips. Cool!

There are two well-known ways to get the paper: by attending technical school or serving in the military. Today, my friend, I will explain them both and reveal the secret of the hitherto unknown school of the do-it-yourself A&P degree.

BONUS TO EMPLOYERS: The third method will forever solve your mechanic shortage. You can take your pick of eager, ambitious bench mechanics begging to come to work for you. It’s a classic win-win scenario. You’ll get great reviews on Glassdoor without faking them, too.

To be honest, there is no such thing as a do-it-yourself A&P certification. That was just to see if you’re paying attention. Cool your jets – Av101 is going to show you three paths to the paper – including that little-used method that you never heard of before.

The uninitiated may ask, “What’s an A&P license? What’s an A&P? I thought that was a supermarket.” Well, yeah, it was, but today the A&P license is a wallet-sized card certifying that you are an elite aircraft repair expert.

It has many of the personal details found on a driver’s license. The card is your diploma, but without the cap, gown, and kegger party. I know – what fun is that?

On the front of the card there’s an image of a modern jet (surely a Boeing) buzzing the iconic Wright Brothers’ Flyer. The back of the cards used to have a portrait of Charles Edward Taylor, famous for being the first airplane mechanic, but they (whomever “they” are) have since removed it. No respect for tradition.

Speaking of removing things, I knew of a grass-fed manager with an A&P who was caught pencil-whipping teardown reports, yes siree Bob. The FAA stepped in and confiscated his license. Yay! No more casual 8130s from him. Believe it or not, his crooked employer saved a place for him in the company because they were made for each other – puppet and master. I hate it when the bad guys win, don’t you?

SIDEBAR: To be clear, it is not necessary to hold a full A&P license while turning the wrenches at an FAA-145 repair station. The second tier in the shop is people who hold a repairman certificate, which can only be obtained with the shop’s help – and it’s no good in any other shop (it’s not portable, but A&P certs are). Also, specialists can work under the repair station’s authority with no degree. Last, any hunky can work under the supervision of an A&P mechanic or an appropriately certified repairman.

Shops can hire anyone they want – but without the paper, an employee’s career is limited. Get the paper, ya hear?

Anyway, a person who has an A&P license is often called an A&P mechanic, or an A&P for short.

For trivia buffs, the A&P supermarket chain (The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company) closed in 2015 after 156 years in business. So if an A&P lost his wallet in the A&P, he’d be an A&P without his A&P within the A&P. That could only happen in Miami.

Now for the three ways:

1)??? SCHOOL

What usually happens is that regular, uncertified bench mechanics who seek to better themselves attend one of the 180 FAA-approved aviation maintenance technician schools (AMTS) in the US.

When you grow up a bit and finally figure out what you want to do with your life, you enroll in one of the schools. This is an education you pay for, and it’s not easy or cheap. It costs about $9500 in-state for the full degree, or $16,000 if you’re coming in from out of state. You can get financial aid, but it’s often just a bag of airline almonds.

Theoretically, you could go to school full-time for two years and cram your cranium with book learning and whatever hands-on experience the school provides. This is the fastest way to earn the license. To be clear, this is no liberal arts college where Daddy pays all the bills and gives you a car, to boot. Technical school is hard work, but when you’re done you can write your own ticket.

In the real world, most A&Ps hold full-time jobs in aviation and attend school part -time over several years to earn the paper. The grueling two-track trek is a marathon completed by only the most determined students who have sworn to never set foot on an unemployment line. They did it the hard way and deserve respect.

With 20-20 hindsight, you’ll wish you had started in high school, just like the kid on the next bench who doesn’t yet shave and already makes more money than you do.

Wait what? Yup, now there are vocational classes in some high schools that can carry you deep into the requirements for earning this coveted degree. Lucky is the young student with the presence of mind to choose this profession while still in short pants. The high school avenue gets one started early in life and with minimal out-of-pocket cost.

2)??? MILITARY SERVICE

Another way to earn the certificate is by learning the career in the military. It takes 18 months for the “single” rating (airframe OR powerplant certification) or 30 months for the better double version (airframe & powerplant certification, or “A&P”). Then there are three written tests and an oral & practical exam. Save your training records, put in the time, pass the tests, and you’ve got a nifty card in your wallet that is guaranteed to impress the opposite sex. “Hey, y’wanna go up to my apartment and see my toolbox?” Swoon!

The downside is short haircuts and tall drill sergeants shouting, “Gimmie twenty!”

It doesn’t even have to be American military experience. Foreign military experience can count towards an American FAA A&P license, but it requires even more detailed records, and extra verification, and the training must be comparable to FAA standards. But it’s doable. It’s like going to med school in Grenada.

But there’s nothing like on-the-job training (OJT) experience. Some employers shy away from hiring freshly minted A&Ps, believing they have learned only enough to get themselves into trouble. Those employers covet fully formed bench mechanics who are forged, not born.

OK, I promised to tell you a secret, and here it is:

3)??? OJT SPONSORSHIP

The third and relatively unknown method of obtaining the A&P license is OJT employer sponsorship. A repair station can sponsor an employee by:

1)???????? Assigning the person tasks that qualify as hands-on maintenance experience. Degreasing parts won’t put you on track for an A&P. Painting flight control surfaces may color you a nice shade of Boeing green, but the FAA will not be impressed if you’re a huffer.

2)???????? Maintaining detailed work records, including job assignments, skill development, and duration. Just like the military, the OJT must be at least 18 months for the “single” rating (airframe OR powerplant certification) or 30 months for the full A&P. Before you get the paper you want, you’d better save a whole notebook of papers proving what you learned. Let loose your inner hoarder. 3)???????? Having a certificated A&P mechanic or repair station supervisor verify the experience in writing. And then you’ve got to buy pizza for the whole shop. 4)???????? Providing access to training programs that broaden technical knowledge. Call it “cross-training on steroids”. That might be a sticking point. If you’re doing well fixing hydraulics they may not want to send you to pneumatics just to learn the ropes. You’ll have to advocate for the extra training.

Once you’ve crossed all the I’s and dotted all the T’s it’s up to you to:

1)???????? Schedule an interview with an FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) or Designated Mechanic Examiner (DME). All these initialisms are a PITA.

2)???????? Bring your notebook filled with proof of experience (employment records, supervisor endorsements, work logs, blah blah, blah. Whatever you can scrounge up).

3)???????? Receive FAA approval and the signed Form 8610-2, which allows you to take the required exams. Because, of course, everyone wants to spend Saturday taking tests instead of going to the beach.

You’re almost home, and it didn’t cost you a dime. But now you’ll have to pony up a bit of cash to prove you really care. Don’t expect your employer to facilitate your degree and pay for your tests, too.

The A&P certification process consists of three exams: ?????????

Written Exams – Three separate tests for General, Airframe, and Powerplant knowledge. They cost $175 each, or $525 altogether. ?????????

Oral & Practical (O&P) Exam – Conducted by a Designated Mechanic Examiner (DME) to assess hands-on skills. That’s $800 - $1500, depending on the size of the DME’s child support payments.

So the total estimated cost is $1325 - $2025, which is much less than going through a typical FAA-approved aviation maintenance technician school (AMTS). The downside to the student is that it takes longer this way. The upside to the employer is that it takes longer this way - employees are apt to stick around as long as they are on a company-assisted upward career trajectory.

The hard part is finding a shop to help you meet your goal. It takes an FAA-145 repair station willing to invest in you and set you up to succeed.

All in all, it’s a fantastic job perk…that almost no companies do. Why the heck not? The cost to the shop is minimal, and the benefits are maximal.

OK, all you shops out there bemoaning the lack of good bench technicians, this is your call to action. Offer technicians a path to an A&P license and watch them beat a path to your door. No more poaching – they’ll find you the moment you put the policy on your website.

Be the first shop in town to sponsor A&Ps and watch other shops scramble to copy your success.

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