AMT Day Honors Aircraft Mechanics

Education is pricey, tools are expensive, and it takes years to earn a living wage as an aircraft mechanic.

Richard Scarbrough

Thursday, May 18, 2023 at 03:47 PM ET

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A&P mechanics often work in the elements. [Credit: Richard Scarbrough]

Key Takeaways:

Becoming an Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) is a demanding path, requiring extensive training, costly tools, and unwavering adherence to regulations, underscored by the author's early encounter with strict FAA paperwork.
AMTs are highly skilled, analytical professionals who uphold a strict creed of precision and safety, fundamentally different from unskilled labor, miracle workers, or gamblers.
Despite often being overshadowed, AMTs are the critical, indispensable force behind aviation safety, ensuring aircraft airworthiness through their absolute commitment to perfection, as celebrated on AMT Day.

See a mistake? Contact us.

I have been an airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanic for 30 years. My first rating was powerplant, which was odd because I was a structures mechanic in the Navy. Nevertheless, it was just how the classes fell, and I finished the powerplants first. It is also embarrassing to admit that I had that license confiscated by the FAA about a week after I received it. Allow me to explain.

I was in class when our director unceremoniously strode into the classroom and bellowed, “Scarbrough! Do you have your powerplant license on you?”