Hire A&P Apprentices for Your Shop

Browse the apprentice profiles on this page — they're organized by state and city. Each profile shows the apprentice's certification goal, mechanical experience, and hands-on skills; create a free shop listing to send them apprenticeship offers and connection requests for one apprentice seat. Two-way messaging with free-plan apprentices comes with the Basic MX Shop Membership.

Yes. Under 14 CFR 65.77, the FAA accepts documented practical experience gained under a certificated mechanic — your shop hires the apprentice, your A&Ps supervise the work, and the hours count toward their mechanic certificate.

A certificated mechanic. Under 14 CFR 65.77 the apprentice's practical experience must be gained under the supervision of a certificated A&P (or under a repair station's certificated mechanics), and it must be documented so the FAA can verify it — see the FAA experience requirements.

Under 14 CFR 43.3(d), a person working under the supervision of a certificated mechanic may perform the same maintenance, preventive maintenance, and alterations their supervisor is authorized to perform — as long as the supervisor personally observes the work to the extent necessary to ensure it's done properly and stays readily available, in person, for consultation. That paragraph does not authorize an apprentice to perform any inspection required by Part 91 or Part 125, or any inspection after a major repair or alteration. Sign-off stays with the certificate holder: under 14 CFR 43.7, a certificated mechanic — or an IA where one is required — approves the aircraft for return to service. The apprentice does the work under your supervision; you keep the inspection authority and the signature.

The apprentice logs at least 18 months of documented practical experience for one rating (Airframe or Powerplant) or 30 months for both, under 14 CFR 65.77. When they're ready, FAA Form 8610-2 goes to the local FSDO, which verifies the supervised experience and authorizes them to take the written, oral, and practical tests (14 CFR 65.75). Grease Pilot's OJT tracking logs those hours by FAA ACS subject, captures your digital sign-offs, and exports an FAA-ready PDF package.

Keep a dated, task-level log, signed as the work happens. The FAA's own guidance for the experience review lists an “AMT log signed by your supervising mechanic” and a statement from your employer among the documentary evidence an inspector accepts — and the more evidence, the better. Note that time spent in training doesn't count; practical experience means actually performing maintenance. Grease Pilot's OJT tracking does this for you: it logs each task by FAA ACS subject, captures your digital supervisor sign-offs, and exports an FAA-ready PDF package when your apprentice is ready to apply. Grease Pilot also generates signed employer verification letters — the employer statement the FAA lists as accepted evidence — to back up the log.

The apprentice profiles on this page are candidates for on-the-job training, and a card says so when one isn't actively seeking right now. FAA Part 147 school students and graduates are another pipeline — but under 14 CFR 65.77 your hires don't need school at all; supervised shop experience alone qualifies them to test.

Typically yes — apprentices are usually hired as regular shop employees who earn while they log supervised experience. Pay and terms are set by each shop.

There's no FAA-specified format, and FAA Form 8610-2 has no supervisor signature block — the apprentice presents the evidence, and your job is to make it verifiable. The form asks them for dates (month/year), employer and location, and the type of work performed; its instructions are explicit that “job titles are not a description of the type of work performed,” so specific task descriptions are what count. The rule counts months, not hours — 18 or 30 under 14 CFR 65.77 — though FAA guidance considers a month to average 160 hours based on a 40-hour workweek (AC 65-30B). A dated, task-level log kept as the work happens is what makes years-old experience verifiable.

List your shop anyway. Apprentice profiles are added as students join, and they search by state — a listed shop is what they find when someone starts looking in your area. Listing is free, and you can also post your opportunity so it appears on the apprenticeship board apprentices browse. Create your free shop listing.

No. The FAA path is separate: under 14 CFR 65.77, an apprentice needs documented practical experience under a certificated mechanic — 18 months for one rating, 30 for both — and nothing in that rule requires a registered program. A DOL Registered Apprenticeship (29 CFR 29) is an optional federal framework with its own wage-progression and classroom-instruction standards. Some shops adopt it for the structure or the funding, and it can run alongside the FAA requirements — but it isn't a prerequisite for supervising an apprentice or for their hours to count.