Inside Aircraft Maintenance Careers: Pay, Pathways & the Fight to Keep Talent (with AMFA)

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 what aviation maintenance needs right now — this episode is for you.

IN THIS EPISODE

(00:00) – The 40,000 Technician Crisis: Rob breaks down the scale of the aircraft maintenance shortage and the retirement wave hitting peak in 2028.

(05:00) – Why Gen Z Is Choosing Oil & Gas: Work-life balance is beating pay — how airlines are rethinking day shift access to compete for new graduates.

(12:00) – The Testing Bottleneck Nobody Talks About: The $500–$1,000 cost of DME oral and practical exams is creating a 60–120 day gap where other industries poach new A&P graduates before they get licensed.

(20:00) – Veterans and Women: The Untapped Pipeline: Only 8.3% of military AMTs continue in civilian aviation, and only 2.8% of technicians are female — and in both cases, awareness is the biggest barrier.

(30:00) – Building the Pipeline Earlier: From Choose Aerospace high school programs to military SkillBridge partnerships, how AMFA is reaching future technicians before they choose a different path.

(38:00) – Career Ladder and Mentorship: Rob's journey from apprentice to Capitol Hill — and why passing on tribal knowledge before the retirement wave hits is the most urgent challenge in the industry.

Key Takeaways

The aircraft maintenance industry is facing a shortage of 40,000 technicians by 2028, driven by a retirement wave among a workforce whose average age is already 56–57.

New A&P graduates are being lost in the gap between finishing school and getting licensed — a $500–$1,000 DME testing cost creates a 60–120 day window where oil and gas steps in and takes them.

Only 8.3% of military veterans with aviation maintenance experience continue into civilian AMT roles — and the primary reason is that most of them didn't know the pathway existed.

Aircraft maintenance careers are far from a dead end: from line mechanic to maintenance control, inspection, management, or government affairs, the ladder is long — and Rob Cush is proof of how far it can go.

About the Guest

Rob Cush is the Director of Government Affairs at AMFA (Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association) and an aircraft maintenance controller at Southwest Airlines. He entered the industry through the Southwest apprenticeship program in 1996, spent 11 years as a line mechanic, and has spent the last two decades in maintenance control. AMFA represents approximately 6,600 technicians across Southwest, Alaska, Hawaiian, Spirit, Sun Country, WestJet, Jazz, and other carriers in the US and Canada.

Rob leads AMFA's advocacy on Capitol Hill, where he helped secure $20 million for aircraft maintenance training in the 2024 FAA reauthorization bill, works to improve veteran transition pathways, and is building awareness programs to bring more women and young people into the A&P pipeline.

Keywords

aircraft maintenance technician, A&P mechanic, aviation workforce shortage, aircraft mechanic career, AMT shortage, A&P license, 147 school, DME testing, oral and practical exam, A&P school, aviation apprenticeship, aircraft maintenance training, aviation career pathway, avionics, Rob Cush, AMFA, Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, Southwest Airlines, Choose Aerospace, FAA reauthorization 2024, military to civilian aviation, women in aviation, skilled trades career, Gen Z trades

RESOURCE LINKS

Rob Cush on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-cush-55b1a936/

AMFA National Website: https://www.amfanational.org/

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