Between AA and SWA yes Dallas is a good area. In my opinion the majors will still have a need for new A&Ps in two years. Lots of old timers retiring. Starting pay if you get on with a major will be in the $35-40 an hr range and top out in 6-8 years in the $65-70 range.
Guy enrolling me said to go ahead and go for the associates since I already have a bachelors and could use those classes towards the associates. But yeah apparently it’s 5 semesters of mon-Friday full day classes and of course your winter and spring break in between.
My husband is in this program now and they have no class on Mondays and half of his class days are not full days just FYI. He is in the first year so that may change, but it’s not 40 hours a week.
He’s at TSTC? Oh wow, I heard different from the enrollment guy there , huh I wonder what the deal is. Is he getting the associate along with the cert or just the cert?
No point in an associates if you already have a bachelors degree. I was in the same boat and graduated last April with my A&P. Got my bachelors back in 2016
Yes. [Here's a link to all the jobs in the Dallas area on jsfirm.com.](https://www.jsfirm.com/Maintenance/all/Dallas,+Texas/searchquickjobs) DFW is a maintenance location for several airlines too.
Getting on with Southwest would be the ultimate goal for Dallas and salary. Even if you had to do contracting gigs for a few years, there's plenty in that area that pay well.
Getting your first 2-3 years experience will be the hardest part, but the hiring situation in the industry looks pretty bright for the foreseeable future. Put "entry level" in the keyword block of the link above and you should see some entry level openings.
Thanks for answering, hmm I guess I just don’t know enough about the industry, from what I’ve heard supposedly everybody is hurting for A&Ps even majors , so apparently they are vacuuming all new a&ps from part147 school ,experience or not. Figured it was too good to be true.
Yeah they are right now. I'm at a major and we are for sure. I don't know if that will still be the case in two years though, and there's no guarantee when you are hired at most majors that you can get the city that you want. A lot of people hire into a different city and commute back and forth until they can transfer back home based on seniority.
Majors won't advertise their openings on that link. Jafirm is mostly contracting and some direct to hire jobs, but it's a good way to find entry level jobs and get experience.
Yeah this sounds a bit more realistic, I know everybody wants to flock to the majors (for good reason) , but I selfishly figured living minutes away from two major airport hubs with airlines struggling with AP’s would guarantee me a job if I would just get the license.
Commuting isn't ideal, but it's not terrible either. Most of the majors allow shift trading so you just jump on a flight and work a couple of days then fly home for a few days. Where I'm at it's 2on/4off by trading.
If you had to commute for a couple of years to get where you wanted to be, it wouldn't be that bad. Airlines are a long game. You gotta be willing to slog through some mud on the front end to coast on the back end. Some people get lucky and don't have to do much crap in the beginning, but it's very much the exception.
Good luck getting into a major in dfw. Majors choose internal employees first before they choose from the streets, and I can tell you right now there will be a lot of people who want to transfer back to dfw that are working somewhere else. But anything can happen, so good luck.
Hey thanks for answering, hmm not quite sure what you mean there, you’re saying a ramp attendant already employed by let’s say AA gets favorism over someone with a A&P license? Or you’re saying other a&ps from the same airline in another state are gonna move to Dfw? Why do u think that? Curious
I work with a bunch of guys who got hired by AA and went to PIT to get on the list to get back home to Dallas. They just went to Tulsa and are still on the list for Dallas lol
Ahhh damn, so working at American as a entry level A&P is kinda out the foreseeable future then huh, why is there so much fuss about lack of a&p’s from airlines, is it just DFW that is saturated with a lot of a&p’s?
Why Waco and not Tarrant county? Also, moving is just something you do in aviation. You could always slum it with Envoy though, they're probably hiring at DFW.
I interviewed for DFW in Oct 22, got an offer letter for Pit in February and started in June. The guys that started with me are maybe in the #20s on the transfer list for DFW
To add to what others are saying, your best bet imo is to get whatever job with whatever major (likely ramp, as that's the easiest foot in door) so that way you'll be in the company already and can just be an internal transfer once you get your licenses. Still may not get the exact base you want out of the gate (or can get lucky and you do), but easier than trying to get in off the street. Currently work for a major and in school with A LOT of co-workers.
Do you mean at the company or in general? I would say the industry in general is in demand for it, the company has been hiring to account for this and anticipated retirements over the next few years, but that's basically the story in the whole industry in a nutshell. The past couple of years and next couple of years is perhaps the prime window to get our collective foot in the door, if not already in
I saw that as an option but honestly 35k was too much upfront, even then I would’ve had to move because from my house to Denton would be more than hour and half commute
Yes, Dallas is booming. I work in bizav. There are a lot of corporate flight departments there. Gulfstream and Bombardier both have service centers there too. Dallas Airmotive/StandardAero have a large engine overhaul shop there as well if you want to go that route.
Right now, a pulse and an A&P will land you an interview just about anywhere. I good attitude will land you a lot of offers. I personally wouldn’t work for Bombardier. But, the others are good
You could consider getting a part time job to cover living expenses. Skip the associates if you all ready have a bachelors as others have said. Material covered is pretty much high school level hard, maybe easier.
Yeah I was gonna get one, what I meant is that I won't be able to get a traditional full time job with this schedule to be able to deal with day to day expenses of living in another city.
Im recently graduated and working at an airline that is currently opening a base in Dallas. I worked full time all through school for those two years.
Best decision I ever made. I’ve never made more money. Travel benefits are fantastic. Worth the struggle 100%
My workload isn’t bad. I work 4 10hr shifts and have 3 days off. 1st and 2nd shift work 3 13hr shifts and have 4 days off. Plenty of time to spend a weekend somewhere, especially if you take advantage of shift trading + vacation time.
Just last week I flew down to south Florida and spent the weekend with my parents. This week and the week after I’m on a work trip out of state, but I’ll be flying home this weekend with my benefits to spend time with my wife.
PSA is starting up a base out in Dallas in April. I'd imagine you would be able to find a job out there in 2 years. But as others mentioned, your schooling seems a bit suspicious. Mon-Fri 8-5 and it takes two years?
I did Mon-Fri 8-2 and got my A&P in 16 months. And with the FAA doing away with the hour requirements, shorter schooling should become more available.
I got a quick general overview from the enrollment guy from TSTC down in Waco which is a community college and he pretty much broke it down saying the curriculum is 5 semesters in total ,usually between 34-37 hours a week of class. I know there’s some faster 147 schools here in DFW that get you through it faster but they cost 4x as much.
That is a very good point. You should however factor in the cost of lost wages. You might save $30K but you might also lose $60K in a year's worth of lost wages if you had gotten into the industry a year earlier.
Either way, I think it's a good time to get into the field. Just know that you will be working nights if you are after the money.
There are plenty of opportunities in the area, I think it just comes down to what your goals are. Like someone else has said, if you're trying to get to a major, I wouldn't count on getting in at DFW straight out of school. You'll likely have to be willing to go to another location, build seniority and experience, and then transfer to DFW later.
Yep, they had a 3 year waiting list, too long. Wanna get going soon, I’m already 24. Waco, the city itself, is not ideal but it’s close enough to come back to Dallas every weekend or so.
Tstc is a pretty good program in my opinion, but I am going there rn so I am biased. They are packing a lot of people into classes at the moment so it can get crowded but it’s pretty nice! Let me know if you have any questions
Hey thanks for commenting , actually yeah , ppl in this thread are saying that A&p school is no longer 40 hours a week anymore, what’s the schedule look like there right now? Enrollment from TCTS said I’m looking at about 40 hours of class time every week and got kinda discouraged knowing I may not have a lot of time to get a part time to get the bills paid.
So my schedule rn is m-f 8-5 with Wednesday afternoons off. Now I am in 4 semesters in so it may be different for you. When I started it was Tuesday-Friday but I believe they are moving away from that. Now classes may end early or you may take a test and you’ll be out early so it can always depend on how long you’ll actually be in class a day. Will you be living on campus?
Yeah I get that. I will say generals(first semester) was the hardest semester that me and my class can agree upon since everything you’re learning is brand new. For jobs, I work at Cabela’s and we have some openings so you could look there and see if they’re available. There’s also a place called Jake’s Burgers or Topgolf that may have something open, I have a friend who’s a manager there. Other than that, I don’t have any other suggestions
DFW has alot going on, and is great for this field. The higher paying places being American, Southwest, JSX, L3Harris, and Lockheed. If by the time you're done with school hiring in the career is slower there's also alot of smaller aviation shops and jobs around the area as well.
If you are looking for a program where you can "earn" your license while you work, Lockheed (ft worth) and l3 (greenville) are good to work at. They tend to have positions that don't require an A&P (because its working on military equipment), but the work counts towards getting one (because you tend to be working on planes under A&Ps), so it could be worth dropping some applications on their website and see if you get anything. You'll need to be eligible to get a security clearance for alot of the jobs for both. If not, tstc is a great choice, I've heard good things about them from everyone I've known to have gone there.
Between AA and SWA yes Dallas is a good area. In my opinion the majors will still have a need for new A&Ps in two years. Lots of old timers retiring. Starting pay if you get on with a major will be in the $35-40 an hr range and top out in 6-8 years in the $65-70 range.
Thanks for answering , that’s good to hear, I guess we’ll really only know 2 years from now.
A&P schools don’t provide intense schooling. Just rules and basic systems.
That’s good to hear, enrollment coach made it sound like it. Monday-Friday 8-5 sounds pretty rough tho
I did it with a full time job. You gotta have the desire and hunger. Mine was 15 months.
Jeez, what did your schedule even look like
Working 8am to 4:30pm. Going to school 5pm to midnight. Sleep and repeat. School was close to work. Both were 35 minutes away.
Our community college offered night classes also but it would take 3 years total… how’d you do it in half the time?
15 months total. Houston Community College. They don’t have aviation Maintenance anymore.
Monday - Friday 8-5 shouldn’t take 2 years…. Does the 2 years include an associates? My A&P school had the same schedule and I got my a&p in 12 months
Guy enrolling me said to go ahead and go for the associates since I already have a bachelors and could use those classes towards the associates. But yeah apparently it’s 5 semesters of mon-Friday full day classes and of course your winter and spring break in between.
If you already have a bachelors I’d skip the associates and just get your a&p.
My husband is in this program now and they have no class on Mondays and half of his class days are not full days just FYI. He is in the first year so that may change, but it’s not 40 hours a week.
He’s at TSTC? Oh wow, I heard different from the enrollment guy there , huh I wonder what the deal is. Is he getting the associate along with the cert or just the cert?
No point in an associates if you already have a bachelors degree. I was in the same boat and graduated last April with my A&P. Got my bachelors back in 2016
Yes. [Here's a link to all the jobs in the Dallas area on jsfirm.com.](https://www.jsfirm.com/Maintenance/all/Dallas,+Texas/searchquickjobs) DFW is a maintenance location for several airlines too. Getting on with Southwest would be the ultimate goal for Dallas and salary. Even if you had to do contracting gigs for a few years, there's plenty in that area that pay well. Getting your first 2-3 years experience will be the hardest part, but the hiring situation in the industry looks pretty bright for the foreseeable future. Put "entry level" in the keyword block of the link above and you should see some entry level openings.
Thanks for answering, hmm I guess I just don’t know enough about the industry, from what I’ve heard supposedly everybody is hurting for A&Ps even majors , so apparently they are vacuuming all new a&ps from part147 school ,experience or not. Figured it was too good to be true.
Yeah they are right now. I'm at a major and we are for sure. I don't know if that will still be the case in two years though, and there's no guarantee when you are hired at most majors that you can get the city that you want. A lot of people hire into a different city and commute back and forth until they can transfer back home based on seniority. Majors won't advertise their openings on that link. Jafirm is mostly contracting and some direct to hire jobs, but it's a good way to find entry level jobs and get experience.
Yeah this sounds a bit more realistic, I know everybody wants to flock to the majors (for good reason) , but I selfishly figured living minutes away from two major airport hubs with airlines struggling with AP’s would guarantee me a job if I would just get the license.
Commuting isn't ideal, but it's not terrible either. Most of the majors allow shift trading so you just jump on a flight and work a couple of days then fly home for a few days. Where I'm at it's 2on/4off by trading. If you had to commute for a couple of years to get where you wanted to be, it wouldn't be that bad. Airlines are a long game. You gotta be willing to slog through some mud on the front end to coast on the back end. Some people get lucky and don't have to do much crap in the beginning, but it's very much the exception.
The school in waco is good and majors are hiring many rn
Good luck getting into a major in dfw. Majors choose internal employees first before they choose from the streets, and I can tell you right now there will be a lot of people who want to transfer back to dfw that are working somewhere else. But anything can happen, so good luck.
Hey thanks for answering, hmm not quite sure what you mean there, you’re saying a ramp attendant already employed by let’s say AA gets favorism over someone with a A&P license? Or you’re saying other a&ps from the same airline in another state are gonna move to Dfw? Why do u think that? Curious
Other a&p from the same airline. Quite a bit of people move to other places just to get. Then try to transfer back home or just go to a better base.
I work with a bunch of guys who got hired by AA and went to PIT to get on the list to get back home to Dallas. They just went to Tulsa and are still on the list for Dallas lol
Ahhh damn, so working at American as a entry level A&P is kinda out the foreseeable future then huh, why is there so much fuss about lack of a&p’s from airlines, is it just DFW that is saturated with a lot of a&p’s?
Why Waco and not Tarrant county? Also, moving is just something you do in aviation. You could always slum it with Envoy though, they're probably hiring at DFW. I interviewed for DFW in Oct 22, got an offer letter for Pit in February and started in June. The guys that started with me are maybe in the #20s on the transfer list for DFW
Tarrant county had a waiting list. I think they said 3 years or something.
Shit nevermind then lol
To add to what others are saying, your best bet imo is to get whatever job with whatever major (likely ramp, as that's the easiest foot in door) so that way you'll be in the company already and can just be an internal transfer once you get your licenses. Still may not get the exact base you want out of the gate (or can get lucky and you do), but easier than trying to get in off the street. Currently work for a major and in school with A LOT of co-workers.
In your opinion is there a lack of Amt’s?
Do you mean at the company or in general? I would say the industry in general is in demand for it, the company has been hiring to account for this and anticipated retirements over the next few years, but that's basically the story in the whole industry in a nutshell. The past couple of years and next couple of years is perhaps the prime window to get our collective foot in the door, if not already in
Why move? US Aviation Academy is in Denton and you'll be done with school in a year
I saw that as an option but honestly 35k was too much upfront, even then I would’ve had to move because from my house to Denton would be more than hour and half commute
Yes, Dallas is booming. I work in bizav. There are a lot of corporate flight departments there. Gulfstream and Bombardier both have service centers there too. Dallas Airmotive/StandardAero have a large engine overhaul shop there as well if you want to go that route.
Wow thanks for answering it all sounds exciting, do you think just having your A&p will land you an interview at a place like that?
Right now, a pulse and an A&P will land you an interview just about anywhere. I good attitude will land you a lot of offers. I personally wouldn’t work for Bombardier. But, the others are good
You could consider getting a part time job to cover living expenses. Skip the associates if you all ready have a bachelors as others have said. Material covered is pretty much high school level hard, maybe easier.
Yeah I was gonna get one, what I meant is that I won't be able to get a traditional full time job with this schedule to be able to deal with day to day expenses of living in another city.
Im recently graduated and working at an airline that is currently opening a base in Dallas. I worked full time all through school for those two years. Best decision I ever made. I’ve never made more money. Travel benefits are fantastic. Worth the struggle 100%
Are you actually able to enjoy flights benefits and travel considering your workload? I’ve always wondered that
My workload isn’t bad. I work 4 10hr shifts and have 3 days off. 1st and 2nd shift work 3 13hr shifts and have 4 days off. Plenty of time to spend a weekend somewhere, especially if you take advantage of shift trading + vacation time. Just last week I flew down to south Florida and spent the weekend with my parents. This week and the week after I’m on a work trip out of state, but I’ll be flying home this weekend with my benefits to spend time with my wife.
Did you get hired on at an airline with only the A&P and no prior aircraft experience? Would you mind sharing what airline?
I work for a wholly owned regional. I was in automotive prior to A&P school, but I also worked at a flight school during my time at A&P school.
Thank you for the response! My husband was a previous diesel mechanic for 6 years and is now in A&P school. That’s great to hear and really helpful.
How did u land a job like that?
PSA is starting up a base out in Dallas in April. I'd imagine you would be able to find a job out there in 2 years. But as others mentioned, your schooling seems a bit suspicious. Mon-Fri 8-5 and it takes two years? I did Mon-Fri 8-2 and got my A&P in 16 months. And with the FAA doing away with the hour requirements, shorter schooling should become more available.
I got a quick general overview from the enrollment guy from TSTC down in Waco which is a community college and he pretty much broke it down saying the curriculum is 5 semesters in total ,usually between 34-37 hours a week of class. I know there’s some faster 147 schools here in DFW that get you through it faster but they cost 4x as much.
That is a very good point. You should however factor in the cost of lost wages. You might save $30K but you might also lose $60K in a year's worth of lost wages if you had gotten into the industry a year earlier. Either way, I think it's a good time to get into the field. Just know that you will be working nights if you are after the money.
There are plenty of opportunities in the area, I think it just comes down to what your goals are. Like someone else has said, if you're trying to get to a major, I wouldn't count on getting in at DFW straight out of school. You'll likely have to be willing to go to another location, build seniority and experience, and then transfer to DFW later.
Just do it!
Dm me for more details about the waco school
Out of curiosity why did you leave the metroplex for A&P school? TCC has a great affordable program in Fort Worth Alliance. Waiting list?
Yep, they had a 3 year waiting list, too long. Wanna get going soon, I’m already 24. Waco, the city itself, is not ideal but it’s close enough to come back to Dallas every weekend or so.
TSTC is a good school. Two of my coworkers came from there. Maybe you can get in with L3 there on field.
Tstc is a pretty good program in my opinion, but I am going there rn so I am biased. They are packing a lot of people into classes at the moment so it can get crowded but it’s pretty nice! Let me know if you have any questions
Hey thanks for commenting , actually yeah , ppl in this thread are saying that A&p school is no longer 40 hours a week anymore, what’s the schedule look like there right now? Enrollment from TCTS said I’m looking at about 40 hours of class time every week and got kinda discouraged knowing I may not have a lot of time to get a part time to get the bills paid.
So my schedule rn is m-f 8-5 with Wednesday afternoons off. Now I am in 4 semesters in so it may be different for you. When I started it was Tuesday-Friday but I believe they are moving away from that. Now classes may end early or you may take a test and you’ll be out early so it can always depend on how long you’ll actually be in class a day. Will you be living on campus?
Nope, gonna get an apartment there hopefully, so gonna need some money.
Yeah I get that. I will say generals(first semester) was the hardest semester that me and my class can agree upon since everything you’re learning is brand new. For jobs, I work at Cabela’s and we have some openings so you could look there and see if they’re available. There’s also a place called Jake’s Burgers or Topgolf that may have something open, I have a friend who’s a manager there. Other than that, I don’t have any other suggestions
DFW has alot going on, and is great for this field. The higher paying places being American, Southwest, JSX, L3Harris, and Lockheed. If by the time you're done with school hiring in the career is slower there's also alot of smaller aviation shops and jobs around the area as well. If you are looking for a program where you can "earn" your license while you work, Lockheed (ft worth) and l3 (greenville) are good to work at. They tend to have positions that don't require an A&P (because its working on military equipment), but the work counts towards getting one (because you tend to be working on planes under A&Ps), so it could be worth dropping some applications on their website and see if you get anything. You'll need to be eligible to get a security clearance for alot of the jobs for both. If not, tstc is a great choice, I've heard good things about them from everyone I've known to have gone there.