How To Become An Airplane Mechanic: What It Is and Career Path

What is an airplane mechanic and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an airplane mechanic. For example, did you know that they make an average of $29.06 an hour? That's $60,444 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 9,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreAirplane MechanicUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $60,444

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 6.82%

Black or African American 9.19%

Hispanic or Latino 23.49%

Unknown 5.06%

White 54.83%

Gender

female 16.44%

male 83.56%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.2

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an airplane mechanic

Explore airplane mechanic education requirements

Most common airplane mechanic degrees

High School Diploma

33.9 %

Associate

30.4 %

Bachelor's

19.6 %

Start to develop specific airplane mechanic skills

Skills	Percentages
FAA	21.16%
Airframe	15.71%
Aircraft Maintenance	12.80%
Landing Gear	12.34%
Maintenance Tasks	11.21%

Complete relevant airplane mechanic training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New airplane mechanics learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an airplane mechanic based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real airplane mechanic resumes.

Research airplane mechanic duties and responsibilities

Manage QA programs to include aircraft turn-up and monitoring and FOD prevention
Work according to FAA guidelines and regulations.
Work in there fleet department repairing and diagnosis on all emergency apparatuses and ambulances and police vehicles also include maintenance schedules.
Reattach and rig flight controls and troubleshot hydraulic, pneumatic lines and fuel systems.

Prepare your airplane mechanic resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your airplane mechanic resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an airplane mechanic resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable airplane mechanic resume templates

Build a professional airplane mechanic resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your airplane mechanic resume.