Aviation careers
How to Write an Aircraft Mechanic Resume
✓ Reviewed against current FAA sources on October 28, 2026
In this guide
There is a great deal of resume advice for pilots and almost none for the people who keep the aircraft airworthy. What exists is usually a general template with the word "aircraft" dropped into it, written by somebody who does not know what an inspection authorization is or why it matters.
The person reading your resume does know. It is typically a director of maintenance, a chief inspector or a shop lead, and their first questions are narrow and specific.
Lead with the certificate and the authorization
Airframe, powerplant, or both. Say which. A resume that says "A and P certified" without being clear whether both ratings are held leaves the first question unanswered.
If you hold an inspection authorization, that is not a line item buried under certifications. It changes what you can sign, and it belongs near the top where it changes how the rest of the page is read.
Name the aircraft, not the category
"Experience on a variety of aircraft types" tells a reader nothing. The specific makes and models you have worked on tell them whether you can be useful next week. A shop running a fleet of one type is reading for that type. A repair station working across several is reading for breadth. Neither can find what they need in the word "variety".
Group them so they can be scanned, by manufacturer or by class, with the engines named separately where that matters. Turbine time on a specific powerplant is worth stating as its own line.
Say which rules you worked under
Maintenance performed under 14 CFR Part 145 at a repair station, under Part 121 for an air carrier, under Part 135, or under Part 91 in a corporate flight department are four different working lives. They have different documentation, different oversight and different expectations about what gets recorded and by whom.
A reader hiring into one of those is checking whether you have worked in that environment before. Name it plainly. It is one of the most useful things on the page and it is almost always missing.
The work itself, in the terms the trade uses
- Inspections. Annual, 100 hour, progressive, phase, heavy checks. Say which ones you have performed and on what.
- Returns to service. If you have signed for work, that is the single clearest statement of the level you have operated at.
- Specialities. Avionics, sheet metal, composites, engine overhaul, non-destructive testing. A shop short in one of these is reading for exactly that word.
- Records. Logbook entries, airworthiness directive research, service bulletin compliance, work order documentation. Maintenance that is not documented correctly did not happen, and a reader knows that.
Training and currency
Factory and manufacturer courses, type specific training, run-up and taxi authorization, human factors training and any ground support equipment or ramp qualifications. These are cheap to list and they answer questions a reader would otherwise have to ask on a call.
What not to do
- Do not write "performed maintenance". Everyone in the pile performed maintenance. What did you inspect, troubleshoot, overhaul, rig, sign for?
- Do not hide the certificate under a heading at the bottom. It is the reason the page is being read.
- Do not list every tool. It reads as padding and it displaces the aircraft list, which is what the reader actually wants.
- Do not claim an authorization you do not hold. It is verifiable in minutes and it ends the conversation.