V. Why an A & P License?
1. Money.
Many employers pay their technicians an extra $1.00 per hour more if
they have an A & P license, some pay $2.00 or more. That’s over
$4,000 per year more for the rest of your life! You will start your
job at a higher rate, and stay in that higher pay grade throughout your
career.
2. Career.
By regulation, an A & P license is a prerequisite for promotion to
lead, supervisory or management positions if you are performing
maintenance for an air carrier, commercial operator, commuter or
charter operation. Additionally, a license is required to be an
inspector. Let’s face it, most people don’t want to work out of a tool
box for the rest of their life. An A & P license is your ticket to
a management position or one of those cushy inspection jobs. (ref. 14
CFR §121.378, §135.435, et. al.)
3. Responsibility.
Company procedures manuals for most airlines and Repair Stations
require that a technician be licensed before being signed off to taxi
aircraft, perform engine runs and even operate the APU. That’s a big
responsibility to accept, but the first time you taxi to the gate where
the passengers are waiting to board your airplane, you’ll appreciate
the personal rewards responsibility brings. Ready for a gut check?
Take the left seat on a 747 engine run: 200,000 pounds of thrust and
you’ll be hooked!
4. Job Security.
When the layoffs come, and in aviation they will, the licensed
mechanics are the last to go. With your ratings you are more valuable
to your employer both for the privileges you exercise and for your
lawful capacity to supervise non-licensed technicians. If you are
looking for work, your license will open doors worldwide that would
otherwise be closed to you.
5. Education.
Regulations require that maintenance operations provide initial,
recurrent and remedial training for their technicians. Training is
expensive and your employer will use their training budget wisely. As
a licensed mechanic, you will be on the “A list” for the best training
slots, those factory courses that look so good on your resume. It may
not seem important now, but all those certificates will help you when
you apply for a job at that big fancy hangar across the ramp.
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