The Aviation Institute of Maintenance has partnered with carriers to better prepare mechanics as industry labor demand grows.
A Delta 757-200 undergoes maintenance at the carrier’s Atlanta TechOps facility. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
The symbiotic relationship between the Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) and partnering airlines has since culminated in the creation of a new advisory board designed to get more mechanics trained and hired.
AIM has been on the forefront of addressing concerns about a growing aircraft maintenance technician (AMT) labor gap expected to occur over the next decade or two.
Last year, the Aviation Technician Education Council projected a 20% shortfall in maintenance techs by 2028, partially due to an aging workforce nearing retirement.
In February, AirlineGeeks spoke to AIM CEO Jason Pfaff about the work being done to address the airline industry’s latest labor shortage.
AIM is the largest educational institution for aircraft mechanics in the U.S. operating 15 locations across the country. To help solve the shortage, AIM has partnered with a number of carriers to address recruitment and training needs for fresh hires.
While many retiring mechanics are exiting the industry, former aircraft mechanic Bill Brown has instead left retirement to help improve training and tackle the labor gap.
Brown was recently hired as AIM’s Chief Aviation Officer after a 40-year career spent in aerospace mechanic and executive roles. When he approached AIM’s board of directors, he said he wanted to help better prepare students for the big upcoming job market.
That started with AIM’s hangars.
United maintenance staff (Photo: United Airlines)
“I wanted to really set up a process where everything that [the training mechanics] would have to do when they went to either an airline or MRO, [that] we’re practicing that now in our hangars,” he said during a virtual interview with AirlineGeeks. “I call it the standard code of conduct while you’re operating a hangar. People safety, product safety, and then success.”
Next, it was time to get industry input. Brown met with airline executives from major airlines to help match the school’s curriculum directly with employer needs.
“I brought in key executives from American, United, Southwest, Delta, Launch, [Aviation] Workforce Solutions and Piedmont to advise us,” he said. “And what we really learned from them was, our students weren’t any better or worse than others, but there was a lot of opportunity for improvement.”
Brown got feedback to better teach mechanics little things like interview and test taking skills, as well as more important safety skills. And while this feedback was invaluable, the networking proved just as important.
Not long after meeting with airline executives, Brown established AIM’s advisory board to continue the conversation with monthly meetings on how the institute can better prepare its students for success.
“We’re getting student feedback,” Brown said. “We’re getting airline feedback, and we’re deploying that into curriculum and changes in our hangars.”
“[Airlines] also see us as willing to invest,” he continued. “Our owners are investing significantly into all of our campuses, not only in upgrading equipment and standards, but also curriculum and instructors. So we’re going to become a powerhouse and maintain that long term in the future, and we think that’s going to help solve the problem that’s out there in the future of this huge gap between what [jobs are] going to be needed, and what is available.”
Brown said that recent economic tariffs haven’t had much of an impact on the continued demand for AMTs.
“The average age of mechanics at all the major airlines is in the mid fifties and above,” he said.
“So there’s a huge bow wave coming at us. That’s unchanged. Tariffs didn’t really create a reaction from any of the airline executives to change hiring today. I think it’s a wait and see.”
That said, there has been continued enrollment growth so far this year for AIM – a signal to Brown that the institute is “doing the right things.”
“The problem that’s out 10 years from now is unchanged,” Brown said. “Between now and 2034, we’re gonna see the number of aircraft out there flying is going to double. So that’s one demand in [AMTs].”
“The other is the aging workforce,” he continued. “We’re going to get double hit. I think it’s tens of thousands of workers [who will retire] a year. And we at AIM, I think through our advisory board and the number of campuses we have, we’re really positioned well to help the airlines get through this. And with their help and support … I think AIM is gonna be the real leader in the industry at bringing [AMTs] to market.”
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