AMTS Growth Issues

3 Main Factors Stalling AMTS Enrollment Growth

More than a third of available seats in aviation maintenance technician schools (AMTS) are unfilled, with school representatives citing three familiar factors as the primary reasons--a lack of awareness, not enough faculty, and insufficient general resources, a recent council-sponsored survey shows.

Conducted annually by the council and Oliver Wyman as part of data collection for the Pipeline Report, the survey seeks input from AMTS on specific issues that may be hindering growth of the certified airframe & powerplant (A&P) workforce. For the third year in a row,  awareness about their programs was cited by the most respondents--50%--as the largest growth obstacle.

But two other issues were close behind. A lack of adequate faculty was cited by 48% of respondents, while 45% pointed to insufficient funding or facilities as major hurdles. No other category topped 30%.
Faculty and facility challenges help explain another survey datapoint: 88% of schools with waiting lists reported having trouble meeting enrollment targets.

Several efforts are working to address all three of the primary AMTS growth obstacles. FAA’s Aviation Workforce Development grants, introduced in 2018 and recently reauthorized at $60 million annually through 2028, support facility expansion and resource acquisition.

Choose Aerospace is an expanding pipeline feeding AMTS, and the council continues to advocate with Congressional officials, community partners and school districts to broaden adoption of the program. In 2024-2025, its third academic year, Choose Aerospace enrolled 933 students in 45 programs across 17 states.

Choose Aerospace graduates can take the ATEC industry-recognized credential exam, which is recognized by both FAA-certificated schools and employers and enables graduates to take the next step in their aviation maintenance technician career path.

Several AMTS schools now offer credit for the general Choose Aerospace curriculum, scholarships, or priority to program graduates. Data also suggest that Choose Aerospace students are less likely to drop out of an A&P program, improving attrition rates and the AMTS student load rate factor.

The council also is involved in other initiatives focused on marketing as well as faculty recruitment and retention. The ATEC Academy was set up to help retirees and other maintenance professionals transition to the classroom environment, covering topics such as lesson planning and student engagement.

For more on this year's survey and the latest A&P workforce trends, read the Pipeline Report.