Lafayette, Ind. – chairman Donald Trump It is said that he wants to increase manufacturing jobs and other technical employment in the United States. But in the aviation industry, finding skilled workers to build airplanes and engines – and maintain those jobs for the coming years – has been a conflict.
The average age of a certified aircraft mechanic in the US is 54, and 40% of them are over 60 years of age, according to a joint report of the aviation technician education council and consulting firm Oliver Vomn, which cites data from the federal aviation administration. According to the report, the US will be lower 25,000 aircraft technicians by 2028.
“Many of them were hired in the 80s and early 90s. You just start doing some mathematics and you start saying at some points that they are going to retire,” American Airlines Chief Operating Officer David Seemor, who oversees more than 6,000 daily flights of the carrier.
To promote their rank, airlines and airplanes are trying to get more young people interested in thousands of constituents and their thousands of constituents.
‘Lots of talent lost’
Technicians work on an engine in the GE Aerospace’s engine shop in Lafyat, Indiana.
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The industry was already facing a retirement wave when Kovid was a hit, and companies offered cutouts to experienced workers – from those who build aircraft from those who maintain them to fly.
“People forget that the aerospace industry was in a very serious ramp in the former-coved at that time. And then clearly, definitely overnight we went to zero demand over time. LandlessChief Human Resource Officer.
GE, with its French joint venture partner Safran, creates the bestseling engine that makes the power Boing And the airbus is hiring the top-celling jetiner, and hiring, although it is also dependent on a web of small suppliers who have been returning at speed even since the epidemic.
Meisner stated that the company has a strong retention rate and some employees earn their faa license to work on an airplane engine or airframe on the job. Outside an hour outside Indianapolis, at the GE’s engine plant in Indiana, the base salary average $ 80,000 and $ 90,000 per year, the company said, based on qualification and experience, the company said.
Lafet, Industries of GE Aerospace. A worker in the engine plant
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Median salary for aircraft technicians or mechanics was $ 79,140 per year in the US in 2024, while with a nationwide average income of $ 49,500, according to, according to, Bureau of Labor StatisticsThe agency performs the inauguration of 13,400 jobs in the area every year in the next decade.
American’s border stated that with new increments, technicians can do $ 130,000 per year on top of their pay scale in nine years on carrier.
While many experts hope not Like the manufacture of clothes to return to the US, jobs sent abroad, make a lot of payment in high-value areas and are more likely to stick around. But keeping at work can still be difficult in an area that is seen as politically important and symbolic for the country. economic power,
The lack of adjacent worker is not only for those who repair the aircraft and engine. Shortage of Air traffic controller Airline has also increased the growth and has increased concerns about safety in recent years. The Trump administration has said that it will increase wages and will work to try to reverse the decrease over the years.
Gordon Hanson, professor of urban policy at Harvard University, said, “Manufacturing is about 9% of American employment, but” We all have a fetish with manufacturing, as we focus more on it and more than other areas. ,
Students at Aviation High School in Queens, NY
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America Unemployment rate Stayed at 4.2%in May.
A problem with manufacturing jobs, Hanson said, it is that workers are not very geographically mobile, and if the factories open again or hire the ramp, it can be difficult to attract employees from other places.
“You are asking the local labor market to supply workers,” Hanson said.
Wages for technicians that repair the aircraft in airlines, as well as big manufacturers. BoingIn recent years have arisen, the demand for low supply and travel and airplane with skilled workers is still strong. But some workers said that this is not enough.
“We need to increase wages,” said Sara McLod, Executive Director of Aeronautical Repair Station Association. Most companies work with the association, small businesses.
He warned that “The whole world is going to feel the lack of this task force. You cannot already build your homes. You can’t already Xyz. I think and pray that the aerospace can really lead his recovery.”
Looking for future
Students work on an airplane engine at Aviation High School in Queens.
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It may take years to obtain an FAA license, but the reward may be more. Some students are considering going to a four -year college degree directly from high school to enter the industry.
“I am thinking about going to college, but whatever it really comes first. If they give me a chance to go to airlines, I would like to do so,” said Sam Mukkiadi, a senior Aviation High School in Queens, New York.
Public School offers about 2,000 students to stay up to the fifth year to earn their FAA license along with training in school.
“I live late after school every day to work on aircraft and, perhaps a little too much … but I still really enjoy it,” said Mookiardi. “This is what I put in my heart.”
The school, which has been teaching students how to maintain the aircraft since the 1930s, has been fielding more demand from the airlines in recent years.
Steven Jackson, Principal of Aviation High School, said, “After a program like us, you usually go to the regional airlines first, Endeavors, like The Environment,” said Steven Jackson, Principal of Aviation High School. “Recently, due to the need for a huge technician, more students are going straight into American, delta, united, but you have the entire range.” He said that the school received about 5,000 applications from students this year.
A student at Aviation High School Hanger in Queens, NY
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School students learn in the campus in the Sunniside section of Queens, but also in other facilities at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Seemor said that the American has previously worked with high schools, but now he is also going at a young age and working with some junior high to raise awareness about the career path.
“This is happening in high schools and showing that a career or clearly, on a production floor, is not the construction of your grandparents. It is not high -tech. It is high -tech,” GE’s Masonar said. “You are talking about laser-directed machines, accurate machining operations, foreign coatings and metals.”
Crystal Godinez, who has lived in the Lafyat area for almost 14 years, graduated in the last summer from GE’s first Apprentice Program Class after almost two years. She said that she used to work in the motor vehicle industry earlier.
“I think what I do here … definitely matters. It is like taking all those additional steps, make sure everything is right,” he said. “We are there to keep people safe and feel safe.”
American’s border was optimistic that small people were changing their tunes.
“There was a time when people said that ‘I want a computer, I want a tech,” he said. “There are people who want to dirty their hands.”
, CNBC’s Erin Black contributed to this article.
