“We’re having trouble getting students. Becoming an A&P mechanic doesn’t seem to be as attractive to students coming out of high school as it used to be,” suggested Laura Hopkins, associate dean of aviation at South Seattle Community College, Seattle. “The students we do get seem to be attracted to the beauty of flight; we don’t find a lot of people who just want to be an aircraft mechanic.” Hopkins said many of her students want to be, or are, pilots.
David Stanley, associate professor and chairman of the aeronautical technology program at Purdue University, talked about the university’s program. “We are a four-year program and there aren’t many around like ours; most have died off. Our expectations are different from those of a school where you can get an A&P in 18 to 24 months. The industry has continued to change the de facto requirements of an A&P mechanic but the regulatory environment hasn’t kept up. That’s the rationale for our four-year program.”
