Inside Aircraft Maintenance Careers: Pay, Pathways & the Fight to Keep Talent (with AMFA)
About this episode
The episode discusses the aircraft maintenance technician shortage and the challenges in attracting new talent to the aviation industry.
Aircraft maintenance technician careers start at $75K and climb past six figures — but a 40,000-person shortage is threatening aviation. Rob Cush of AMFA joins Andrew Brown. By 2028, the aviation industry is expected to hit peak retirements — and the average aircraft maintenance technician is already 56 or 57 years old. The wave is coming. At the same time, new A&P graduates are being poached between school and their first job by oil and gas, because a $500–$1,000 testing cost creates a 60–120 day gap that other industries are happy to fill. The pipeline is leaking at every stage. Rob Cush is the Director of Government Affairs at AMFA (Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association) and an aircraft maintenance controller at Southwest Airlines. He's spent decades on the floor turning wrenches — and now he takes that firsthand experience directly to Capitol Hill, advocating for workforce funding, veteran transition programs, and pathways to bring more young people and women into aviation maintenance. If you're a trade-minded person looking for a career that pays well, offers real advancement, and keeps planes in the sky — or if you work in workforce development and want to understand…
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