Alison Pohle

Thank you for having me.

It's been decades in the making, but the big issue right now is a ticking demographic time bomb.

So there's a big retirement cliff that is coming where many aircraft maintenance technicians are over the age of 60.

And that means there just aren't enough people who are getting into the field and we're losing a lot of aircraft technicians who are retiring.

So there's a lot of different approaches that the industry is taking.

First of all, they're trying to get more people into schools to train up for this role.

And the average amount of time that it takes for someone in one of these programs is 21 months.

So it's not like you can just sign up, walk onto the job and get started.

You have to pass a lot of tests along the way.

So they're trying to increase enrollment in these programs.

A couple of years ago, United Airlines, for example, was offering a $75,000 signing bonus for aircraft maintenance technicians in San Francisco.

Now, a lot of people responded to that, so they don't need to offer that signing bonus anymore.

But at the same time, airlines are constantly thinking about their pipeline because they're losing workers as they choose retirement.

Yeah.

So people with a license who graduate in their first year, this includes all the benefits, can earn about $81,000.

You do not need a college degree for this, but the pay does range based on where you're working.

If you're working at a smaller place, you're probably not going to be making $81,000 right out of school.

That's right.

And so that means the work is mounting.

So there's a lot of demand.