CNBC: College or $70,000 a year? Aviation industry scrambles for mechanics as retirements loom

[erpowers]

The aviation industry needs to hire thousands of more people like Thomas Maharis.

Maharis, recent high school graduate who lives with his family in the Howard Beach section of Queens, is earning $25 an hour as an entry-level aircraft technician. In four overnight shifts a week at nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport, Maharis, 19, repairs aircraft cabins after planes are done flying for the day for Delta Air Lines, where he started working in June.

Snip

Airlines, manufacturers of airplanes like Boeing and aircraft engine-makers such as General Electric, are racing to ensure a pipeline of technicians to fix and maintain their aircraft as a wave of current employees approach retirement.

In July, Boeing, the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, forecast that the aviation industry will need 754,000 new aircraft technicians over the next two decades, more than 80 percent of them for the growing commercial aviation sector.



https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/03/airlines-search-for-young-mechanics-as-retirement-wave-looms.html

I still favor college, but more high school students should be exposed to this information and this type of training. This (aircraft mechanics) should be offered as an elective in high school.

[onecaliberal]

1. It could be offered at districts who have career technical education as a certificate class.

[msongs]

2. most schools have abandoned trades and tech training for jobs that cannot be sent to china

being a plumber is not for everyone but it pays well and has good job security. plus u can jack people with fees like "truck charge"

[matt819]

4. Jacking fees

You know, I don’t think the reference to jacking fees is appropriate. The reality is that time is money, plus driving is expensive and there is real wear and tear on commercial vehicles. Call out fees or truck charges or whatever you want to call them, are legitimate charges.

Some years back, I had flooding in my basement. I had no idea why. I called the plumber. He came and turned on a switch on the furnace that had been turned off by accident. He explained how to prevent this in the future and he left. On his way out, he gave me a bill for $99. I said, $99? You were here for five minutes. And all you did was flip a switch. He responded, yes, but I knew which switch to flip.
Now, these guys don’t charge a call out fee, but they do have a minimum charge for a visit. That may be irritating, but it’s the way it is.

I’ve been using those plumbers for about 15 years now.

[htuttle]

3. $25/hour only adds up to $70,000 year with a lot of overtime

And let me point out, on Labor Day, that it used to be Unions that made sure that there were skilled people working in the trades into the future through the apprenticeship system.

[bettyellen]

6. My cousin was a high level aircraft mechanic in SF - they laid them all off and try to do

Most of the maintenance in Asia where it’s cheaper.
Not true they all retired, they saw their jobs leave.

[teenagebambam]

7. "Only?"

I have a doctorate, and at age 52 am making over 50k for the first time, and that’s only because I have 1 full and 2 part time jobs. I’d count myself lucky to “only” make 70k in my chosen field.

[htuttle]

13. I think you misread my use of the word 'only'

Rephrased here as, "The only way to make $70k per year on $25/hour is to work a lot of overtime"

[LakeSuperiorView]

8. A LOT of overtime.

40 hours * $25 an hour is $1000 a week. Assuming that the 4 shifts are 10 hour shifts, tha's $52K a year.

If those 4 shifts are 12 hour shifts, then it's 48 hours a week and $1300. Two weeks vacation would be $2000, add 50 weeks at $1300 and we are at $67,000 a year. Holiday pay would increase it a little more, but $70K is only possible throwing out the 40 hour work week.

[erpowers]

18. In a Few Years

The $70,000 figure is based on what he may be making in a few years. After a few years of working in his position there is a chance he will be making $35 an hour. The $35 an hour figure is where the $70,000 figure come from.

[LakeSuperiorView]

19. A 35% raise? "in a few years"?

The only people seeing those kind of raises currently are Corporate officers...

[SMC22307]

11. "...earning $25 an hour as an entry-level aircraft technician."

Entry level. My brother has been doing this work since the early '90s and is now making over six figures.

[Renew Deal]

14. I think that's the entry level salary

[erpowers]

17. $35 an Hour

In a few years there is a chance he will be making $35 dollars an hour. The $35 an hour figure works out to about $70,000-$72,000 per year. It was bad on me not to put the paragraph that discussed the $35 an hour. I think the rule for DU is four paragraphs from a story. After I posted the last two paragraphs I thought about posting the $35 an hour paragraph, but I chose to leave it out because it is in the whole story. Sorry for not adding the other information.

[matt819]

5. Now here's the question. Who provides the training

If you argue that schools are simply training ground to create workers, then you would support the notion the high schools should train students for jobs that are in their communities.

I would suggest that schools are there to teach their students how to read, write, do math, think, and use computers. Better schools can do more and provide better programs, but these are the basic skills that every school should address.

If airlines and aircraft makers believe there is that larger need for aircraft mechanics, then they should develop programs that will provide them with competent personnel over the long run. They should treat their employees as if they are assets and not cost centers. They shouldn’t foist these training programs and the cost associated with him to public schools. In the same way that Amazon and Walmart should pay their employees sufficient money so that they don’t have to get food stamps or other social services that cost the government money, So should these sorts of companies hire, train, and pay well the employees at the forecast needing over the next 10 years or more.

In some respects, this would be a return to the “good old days“ where companies treated their employees reasonably well and in return, employees were loyal and could expect a career And not simply a minimum wage paycheck.

I think the chance of these things happening is pretty close to zero.

[Blue_true]

10. The good old days were the height of Unions.

Then came Nixon and surely Reagan and their attacks on Unions. Ever since Reagan, working people have struggled.

[Ptah]

9. Pima Community College, Tucson AZ offers Aviation Technology

Gain skills and knowledge in repairing and maintaining aircraft.

Selective Admissions Program: In order to be fully admitted to this program, you must fulfill the requirements listed in Program Admissions. See an advisor for details.

Title IV Financial Aid eligible: Yes
What can I do with this degree?

Career Options: Work in the aircraft industry as an Aviation Maintenance Technician.

Academic Options: The Airframe and Powerplant courses are taught per Federal Aviation Regulations Part 147 for FAA Aviation Maintenance Technician training to allow a student to be qualified for Airframe and Powerplant certification. Aviation Structural Repair has been offered as specialty training and does not fall under FAA Part 147 guidelines. Instead it is an industry directed curriculum preparing students to perform heavy structural repairs that exceed the requirements of Part 147 Airframe and Powerplant training.



https://pima.edu/programs-courses/credit-programs-degrees/trade-professions/aviation-technology/aviation-technology-aas.html

[SharonAnn]

12. Those are union jobs. Once airlines contract all this out, and they will,

The jobs will be gone.

[MissB]

15. My mother's husband has been done this sort of work for much of his career.

He’s about 72 now and still gets jobs here and there in the field. He’s not as nimble as he once was- it’s definitely hard on his body to be installing seats or whatever but he’s quite skilled at it.

In the 30 or so years I’ve known him, he’s been laid off more than a dozen times. He used to work for Boeing but more recently it’s the sub contractors that have the short term jobs.

Not exactly a retirement but that may be more on him and his inability to logically save money instead of spend it.

[Kaleva]

16. I have two siblings, high school grads, each making over 6 figures in the aviation industry.

That's on top of their military retirement pay. They work for Lockheed Martin.

[Adrahil]

20. Seems more like a good replacement for high end blue collar jobs....

Rather than a college replacement.

[bluecollar2]

21. I just retired after turning wrenches on aircraft

Since February of 1980.

The last 31 of those years was working as a certificated airframe and power plant mechanic for a major commercial airline.

It is not unusual for a mechanic to earn between 70 and 100k per year. In fact, it is relatively common for those who survive at a single employer.

The fact is that the industry is very dynamic. You can have fifteen years of seniority and be getting comfortable when your employer goes bankrupt and you're out of a job.

The business is littered with the carcasses of airlines and their employees.

Brannif, Eastern, TWA, Hughes, Pan Am, PSA, Republic, National, Air Cal, Northwest, Continental, USair are no longer around...

A lot of the airlines are outsourcing their "heavy maintenance" to South and Central America and Asia.

It's good work that pays well but not for the faint-hearted.

It's high stress, most of the work is done at night or on weekends, and the environment is harsh. Heat, humidity, rain, sleet, snow, and everything in between are normal.

Noise, grease, oil, jet fuel, skydrol...

For every 10 mechanics, maybe 1 will actually get hired and end up making the 70K. The rest will end up as cannon fodder working for whoever will hire them and they'll work until they have to migrate to the next job.

Would I do it again?

I don't know.

I had the opportunity to work and travel in some of the most challenging environments and locations and have known some of the best people in this business.

I've also known con men, thieves, cheats, liars and some of the most ethically and morally bankrupt human beings imaginable in this business.