---
title: "Aircraft Mechanic"
description: "Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul aircraft engines and assemblies, such as hydraulic and pneumatic systems."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-mechanic"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Aircraft Mechanic

**Category:** Installation, Maintenance, and Repair · **SOC code:** 49-3011 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 49-3011.00

Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul aircraft engines and assemblies, such as hydraulic and pneumatic systems.

Also advertised as: Aircraft Maintainer; Aircraft Maintenance Technician (Aircraft Maintenance Tech); Aircraft Mechanic; Aircraft Restorer; Aircraft Service Technician (Aircraft Service Tech); Aircraft Technician (Aircraft Tech); Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic (A and P Mechanic); Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT).

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $79,870 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $38.40/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $48,780 to $128,890, with the middle half between $62,630 and $99,130
- **Total US employment:** 138,090
- **Typical entry education:** Certificate
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +4.0% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 11,300 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 59/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 138,090 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $48,780 |
| 25th | $62,630 |
| 50th (median) | $79,870 |
| 75th | $99,130 |
| 90th | $128,890 |
| Mean (average) | $84,740 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| NJ | $105,370 | $96,843 | 1,900 |
| NY | $102,800 | $95,255 | 4,300 |
| MD | $100,500 | $95,752 | 1,070 |
| WA | $98,980 | $92,493 | 4,480 |
| CT | $96,830 | $93,456 | 1,430 |
| NV | $94,890 | $94,910 | 2,570 |
| MA | $93,040 | $87,975 | 1,410 |
| AK | $91,150 | $89,049 | 1,470 |
| HI | $90,830 | $82,610 | 1,150 |
| CA | $86,100 | $77,764 | 12,590 |
| NM | $84,440 | $91,572 | 860 |
| TX | $84,440 | $87,000 | 16,850 |
| DE | $83,550 | $83,711 | 240 |
| OR | $82,850 | $80,156 | 1,080 |
| AL | $82,260 | $92,611 | 4,310 |

37 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 52 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-mechanic/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/aircraft-mechanic.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 139,400 in the 2024–2034 base year to 145,000 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 5,600 jobs, or +4.0%. About as fast as average: 4.0% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 11,300 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Postsecondary nondegree award (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 66.2% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 15.1% |
| High School Diploma | 10.0% |
| Some College Courses | 8.1% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 0.6% |

## What the work involves

- Read and interpret maintenance manuals, service bulletins, and other specifications to determine the feasibility and method of repairing or replacing malfunctioning or damaged components.
- Replace or repair worn, defective, or damaged components, using hand tools, gauges, and testing equipment.
- Assemble and install electrical, plumbing, mechanical, hydraulic, and structural components and accessories, using hand or power tools.
- Conduct routine and special inspections as required by regulations.
- Examine and inspect aircraft components, including landing gear, hydraulic systems, and deicers to locate cracks, breaks, leaks, or other problems.
- Inventory and requisition or order supplies, parts, materials, and equipment.
- Maintain repair logs, documenting all preventive and corrective aircraft maintenance.
- Inspect airframes for wear or other defects.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Equipment Maintenance — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Repairing — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Mechanical — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Transportation — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Manual Dexterity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Finger Dexterity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.70 |
| C — Conventional | 4.70 |
| I — Investigative | 3.81 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.84 |
| S — Social | 1.31 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 93.5 |
| ISTP | 80.6 |
| ESTJ | 74.6 |
| ISFJ | 73.2 |
| INTJ | 72.5 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Avionics Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/avionics-technician) — median $82,280
- [Aircraft Structure, Surface, Rigging, and Systems Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-structure-surface-rigging-and-systems-assembler) — median $65,380
- [Aircraft Service Attendant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-service-attendant) — median $40,450
- [Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aerospace-engineering-and-operations-technologist-and-technician) — median $82,890
- [Engine and Other Machine Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/engine-and-other-machine-assembler) — median $53,710
- [Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electro-mechanical-and-mechatronics-technologist-and-technician) — median $73,900
- [Bus and Truck Mechanic and Diesel Engine Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bus-and-truck-mechanic-and-diesel-engine-specialist) — median $61,770
- [Motorboat Mechanic and Service Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/motorboat-mechanic-and-service-technician) — median $57,550
- [Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanic, Except Engines](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mobile-heavy-equipment-mechanic) — median $65,510
- [Automotive Service Technician and Mechanic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-service-technician-and-mechanic) — median $50,620

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/aircraft-mechanic