…..The industry continues to face a shortage of mechanics.

 

Key Takeaways:

The aviation industry faces a critical shortage of maintenance technicians, with projections indicating a deficit of 12,000 to 48,000 workers over the next decade.

While this crisis threatens flight operations nationwide, an untapped solution exists: dramatically increasing female participation in aviation maintenance.

Currently, women represent only 2.6% of aircraft maintenance technicians, presenting an enormous opportunity to address workforce shortages through targeted recruitment and retention strategies.

The Scale of the Crisis

The numbers paint a stark picture. Boeing forecasts that 626,000 maintenance technicians will be needed worldwide over the next 20 years. According to Oliver Wyman, the supply-demand imbalance will worsen significantly, with 2027 projected as the worst year, facing a deficit of more than 48,000 aircraft maintenance workers—a 27% shortfall. This shortage directly impacts airline operations, leading to flight delays, cancellations, and increased operational costs as airlines maintain larger spare aircraft fleets.

The workforce demographics compound this challenge. The Aviation Technician Education Council reports that 36% of current AMTs are age 60 or older, with the average FAA mechanic being 53 years old. As experienced technicians retire, the industry struggles to replace them with qualified personnel.

Women: An Underutilized Resource

Despite representing 47% of the U.S. workforce, women comprise only 2.6% of certificated aircraft mechanics according to FAA statistics. This massive underrepresentation represents the aviation industry’s greatest untapped talent pool. While the number of female pilots is growing, aviation maintenance remains the least represented aviation occupation for women. Encouragingly, recent data shows progress: A&P schools reported 11% of their 2021 graduates were women, up from the previous 8% trend.

Female mechanics tend to be younger than their male counterparts, with an average age of 45 compared to 53 for the overall workforce. This age advantage means women could provide longer career contributions, helping offset the aging demographic challenge.

Breaking Down Barriers

Visibility and Awareness

Aviation maintenance suffers from a fundamental visibility problem. As Stacey Rudser, president of the Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance, explains: “You have this wonderful hive around an aircraft when you’re having that experience as a passenger; one of the components you just don’t see is maintenance. By nature, it’s supposed to be an invisible career.”

This invisibility particularly impacts young women, who rarely see aviation maintenance as a career option. Guidance counselors and parents often steer girls toward more visible aviation roles like pilots or engineers, missing the substantial opportunities in maintenance.

Financial Accessibility

Cost barriers significantly limit access to aviation maintenance careers. Training expenses range from $8,000 to $80,000 depending on the program type, with additional testing costs of $5,000 to $6,000. For many women, particularly single mothers like JuliAnne Miller, who became valedictorian of her A&P class, scholarships prove instrumental. Miller credits AWAM and other organization scholarships as making her career possible, stating: “Without the scholarships there’s no way I would have been able to go back and do it.”

Aviation Maintenance Schools Adapt to Industry Demands

Aviation maintenance schools are adapting their approaches to attract more students and address industry needs. The Federal Aviation Administration’s 2022 revision of Part 147 regulations was a crucial step, modernizing training requirements that had remained largely unchanged since the 1960s. This update emphasizes competency over time-based requirements and allows schools to incorporate current technologies and industry standards.

For women considering aviation maintenance careers, finding the right training program is essential. Resources for locating aviation mechanic schools can help prospective students compare programs, costs, and career outcomes across different institutions.

Expanding Capacity and Industry Partnerships

Leading institutions like the Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM), which operates 15 campuses nationwide and trains over 7,000 students, are pioneering new recruitment and training strategies. AIM’s president Jason Pfaff notes that about 25% of the nation’s aircraft maintenance technicians hold AIM diplomas, making the institute a critical pipeline for new workers.

Sponsorships Help Reduce Barriers

Schools are increasingly partnering directly with airlines and maintenance providers through sponsorship programs. Major carriers including American Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, and Allegiant Airlines are subsidizing student education costs—typically around $12,000–$17,000—in exchange for employment commitments. These partnerships reduce student debt while guaranteeing job placement, creating a win-win scenario for both students and employers.

Cultural Transformation

The industry’s male-dominated culture, often described as “stuck in the 1950s,” presents significant retention challenges. Women face harassment, discrimination, and microaggressions that drive many from the field. However, successful women in the industry demonstrate that cultural change is possible. Jennifer Morgan, a Southwest Airlines inspector known as “Powder,” describes her experience: “Everybody treats you, even if you’re older than them, they treat you like a little sister. They always check on you.”

The Business Case for Women in Aviation Maintenance

Unique Skill Sets

Women bring valuable capabilities to aviation maintenance. Research indicates they often excel in attention to detail, critical for both technical work and compliance documentation. Their communication and empathy skills introduce positive cultural changes in traditionally autocratic environments.

As Jolanta Gaske, Lead NDT Engineer at FL Technics, notes: “An aircraft does not know if you are a man or a woman, how you do your job is of utmost importance.” Women can compensate for any physical strength differences through greater resilience and meticulous attention to detail.

Career Advancement Opportunities

Aviation maintenance offers clear pathways from entry-level positions to executive roles. Evie Garces, American Airlines’ first Hispanic woman vice president of line maintenance, started straight from high school and earned more than her father immediately. Current starting salaries range from $78,000 to $80,000, with top scale reaching $119,000 to $121,000 within nine years at major airlines.

Economic Impact

Women’s entry into aviation maintenance creates multiplier effects. Higher female participation reduces recruitment costs, improves retention rates, and brings diverse perspectives to problem-solving. Companies with greater gender diversity consistently show improved performance and innovation.

Strategic Solutions

Early Intervention

Successful recruitment requires early engagement. AWAM targets girls as young as 10 through elementary school outreach programs, counteracting societal messages that discourage STEM participation. As Kim Ashmun, president of Standard Aero’s components division, emphasizes: “It is important to get young women exposed to the aviation industry and the opportunities out there by generating interest early on in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).”

Comprehensive Support Systems

Organizations like AWAM provide holistic support beyond tuition assistance. Their $82,254 annual scholarship program covers testing fees, tools, technical training, work pants, and safety footwear. This comprehensive approach addresses the “whole person” rather than just educational costs.

Mentorship Programs

Mentorship proves crucial for retention. AWAM’s program pairs working professionals with students and entry-career technicians, with 38 current participants. Amanda Colón, an aircraft support engineer at Textron, exemplifies this approach: “I have to. The industry has given me so much, and AWAM is awesome.”

Industry Cultural Change

Companies must actively promote inclusive environments. Shannon Hotchkin, Nike’s director of maintenance, emphasizes the responsibility of successful women to mentor others: “I owe it to others in the industry to help mentor them.” This creates positive feedback loops that improve retention and attract new talent.

Implementation Roadmap

Immediate Actions

• Expand scholarship programs targeting women
• Implement mentorship matching systems
• Develop targeted recruitment campaigns for high schools and community colleges
• Create awareness programs highlighting career advancement opportunities

Medium-term Strategies

• Partner with educational institutions to increase female enrollment in A&P programs
• Establish industry-wide diversity and inclusion standards
• Develop flexible work arrangements accommodating work-life balance needs
• Create leadership development programs for women in maintenance

Long-term Goals

• Achieve 15-20% female representation in aviation maintenance by 2035
• Establish aviation maintenance as a viable STEM career for women
• Create sustainable pipeline from education through career advancement
• Transform industry culture to be fully inclusive and supportive

Conclusion

The aviation industry’s technician shortage represents both a crisis and an opportunity. Women constitute the largest untapped talent pool capable of addressing workforce shortfalls while bringing valuable skills and perspectives. Success requires coordinated efforts across recruitment, education, financial support, mentorship, and cultural transformation.

As Davia Zemaite of Magnetic Group succinctly states: “Go, girl, go! Simple, yet it implies that you should pursue your passion, regardless of the industry and your chosen career.” With proper incentives and support systems, women can fill the aviation maintenance gap while building rewarding careers in this essential industry.

The question isn’t whether the aviation industry can afford to recruit more women—it’s whether it can afford not to. The future of aviation safety and operational efficiency may well depend on breaking down the barriers that have kept this critical talent pool underutilized for too long.

This story is sponsored by AviationMechanicSchool.org.