One FAA certificate, two ratings, and a hiring market that behaves like it lost something valuable under the couch. Here is the honest brochure, with the salaries attached.
By WingmanPro Research · Published August 28, 2026
A&P stands for airframe and powerplant, the two ratings on the FAA mechanic certificate. Holding both lets you maintain, repair and approve aircraft for return to service, which is the signature the entire industry runs on. It is the most valuable certificate in aviation that does not involve a cockpit, and right now 2,361 open maintenance listings posted on WingmanPro are competing for the people who hold one.
The experience path is the quiet bargain of the industry. Military maintainers and shop apprentices convert years they were already paid for into the certificate, spending only the test fees. The school path is faster to start and slower to pay for, and tuition varies too much by program for one honest number, though all of it is a small fraction of what pilot training costs.
| Cut | Median posted pay | Open listings |
|---|---|---|
| All aircraft maintenance | $88,400 | 2,361 |
| Avionics technicians | $127,500 | 742 |
| California maintenance jobs | $132,500 | 314 |
| Texas maintenance jobs | $78,000 | 217 |
Two things in that table matter for anyone choosing a path. The avionics premium, about $39,000 over the general median, rewards a specialization you can pick early. And the California number is not about California; it is about who is hiring there. Aerospace, space and defense employers pay mechanic wages that airlines used to consider bragging rights: Airbus posts a $143,070 median across 153 maintenance openings, the FAA posts $122,404, SpaceX $109,375, Rocket Lab $117,500. Your A&P is welcome at a rocket factory.
Against the pilot path: an A&P costs a fraction as much, takes half the time, and its median posted pay of $88,400 arrives years before a pilot's first six-figure seat. The pilot ladder tops out much higher, $212,750 at the captain median, but it charges six figures in tuition for the climb. The A&P starts paying at the bottom rung. Plenty of people hold both, and they are never unemployed.
2,361 open listings, an $88,400 median, no degree required, and six-figure medians in avionics and at aerospace employers. It is one of the strongest cost-to-salary trades in American skilled work right now.
Yes. Document 30 months of hands-on maintenance experience, civil or military (18 months for one rating), get it signed off, then pass the written, oral and practical tests.
12 to 24 months through a Part 147 school, or 30 months via the experience path, which many people accumulate while already being paid to turn wrenches.
No. The certificate is the credential. Some engineering-adjacent aerospace roles prefer a degree; the 2,361 open maintenance listings mostly do not.
Pay figures are medians of posted ranges among maintenance listings posted on WingmanPro on August 28, 2026, annualized with the board's standard factors, outliers excluded outside $20,000 to $2,000,000. Certification requirements summarize current FAA rules for the mechanic certificate. Refreshed monthly alongside our aircraft mechanic salary report.