Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AME) are responsible for ensuring an aircraft operates properly and safely.
AME inspects, services, repairs and overhauls civil aircrafts. The AME is the licensed person who carries out the maintenance of an aircrafts. This job entails assessing and handling repairs, performing regular inspections, maintenance and servicing, and updating aircraft as needed.
Licensed engineers are authorized to sign maintenance releases and can certify air-worthiness of aircraft, engines, or system components as identified in the licence category.
Pathways
In the aviation maintenance industry, Transport Canada provides licensing for three categories of aircraft maintenance engineer (AME). The AME licence is granted to Aircraft Maintenance Technicians, Aircraft Structures Technicians, and Avionics Maintenance Technicians who pass the pre- requisites and rigorous standard testing by Transport Canada in their given specialty.
Helpful Tips
Aircraft maintenance engineers should have a passion for performing maintenance and repairs. The ideal candidate for this role strives for accuracy and is meticulous with details. Education and training varies by company, but those with prior job experience are typically sought out.
Employers also prefer candidates who possess the following abilities:
- Attention to detail – most aircraft maintenance engineers work in unpredictable environments – both with mechanical issues that may arise and with things such as weather. It is important to be a strong performer under pressure and have the ability to multitask while paying close attention to details and the surrounding environment
- Communication skills – aircraft maintenance engineers interact with many people – supervisors, maintenance staff, and other aircraft engineers – in a fast-paced environment, so it’s important to be a strong, detailed communicator in order for things to run safely and smoothly
- Problem-solving skills – aircraft maintenance engineers are natural problem-solvers, able to handle situations where some investigative work needs to occur in order to rule out certain scenarios and find the root cause of an issue
Associated Titles
- AME-M is an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with a maintenance specialty
- AME-E is an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with an avionics specialty
- AME-S is an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with a structures specialty