How To Become A Helicopter Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a helicopter technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a helicopter technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $19.52 an hour? That's $40,596 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 9,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreHelicopter TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,596

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 6.78%

Black or African American 9.11%

Hispanic or Latino 23.31%

Unknown 5.05%

White 55.14%

Gender

female 5.81%

male 94.19%

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 a helicopter technician

Explore helicopter technician education requirements

Most common helicopter technician degrees

Associate

34.0 %

Bachelor's

31.9 %

High School Diploma

22.3 %

Start to develop specific helicopter technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Engineering Drawings	15.45%
R	10.59%
Unscheduled Maintenance	6.95%
FAA	6.27%
GPS	5.64%

Complete relevant helicopter technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New helicopter technicians 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 a helicopter technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real helicopter technician resumes.

Research helicopter technician duties and responsibilities

Manage the FOD prevention program to reduce costly repairs and increase the participation in FOD awareness and FOD walk downs.
Document all repairs, update component log cards and issue FAA form 8130-3 as directed.
Coordinate inspection of all work in progress through completion with inspectors to assure satisfaction of FAA standards.
Maintain and repair industrial machinery such as power transmission components, hydraulics, pneumatics, plumbing systems, and electro-mechanical components.

Prepare your helicopter technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your helicopter technician 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 a helicopter technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable helicopter technician resume templates

Build a professional helicopter technician 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 helicopter technician resume.

Apply for helicopter technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a helicopter technician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do helicopter technicians rate their job?

-/5

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Helicopter technician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2021

Cons

The hours. Most of the maintenance occurs at night, since the majority of aircraft fly during the day and sit overnight at airports.

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

Working with my hands and using power tools

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2019