FAA A&P License Requirements: Ratings, Exams, and Renewal

To earn an FAA Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) license, you must be at least 18, able to read, write, speak, and understand English, and either graduate from an FAA-approved Aviation Maintenance Technician School or document substantial hands-on experience. From there, you pass three written knowledge tests plus oral and practical exams, all within a rolling 24-month window. The certificate itself is federal, issued under 14 CFR Part 65, and once you have it, it never expires.

Baseline Eligibility

Before anything else, 14 CFR 65.71 sets the floor. You must be at least 18 years old. You must be able to read, write, speak, and understand English; if you can’t and you work for a U.S. air carrier outside the country, the FAA can still issue a certificate endorsed “Valid only outside the United States.” You must pass every required test within a 24-month period. And you must meet the experience or education requirements in 14 CFR 65.77.¹

Citizenship is not on that list. The FAA does not require U.S. citizenship to issue a mechanic certificate.

Two Ratings, One Certificate

The credential is really two ratings. Airframe covers the structure: fuselage, wings, control surfaces, landing gear, and related systems. Powerplant covers reciprocating and turbine engines and propeller assemblies. Most candidates go for both at the same time, which authorizes work across essentially the whole aircraft.²

A few limits are worth knowing before you invest in the training. An A&P cannot perform major repairs or major alterations to propellers, and cannot repair or alter instruments; those tasks belong to appropriately rated repair stations or, in some cases, a mechanic holding an Inspection Authorization. You also can’t sign off a task you haven’t satisfactorily performed before unless you demonstrate the ability to an FAA inspector or work under someone who has that prior experience.³

Path One: Part 147 School

The cleaner route is a Part 147 Aviation Maintenance Technician School. Graduating satisfies the experience requirement, and you go straight to testing. Programs generally run 18 to 24 months depending on whether you’re pursuing one rating or both.⁴

The curriculum is organized around three areas — General, Airframe, and Powerplant — and covers subjects like electricity and electronics, aircraft drawings, weight and balance, materials and hardware, corrosion control, mathematics, regulations, and human factors.⁵

When you finish, the school issues an authenticated certificate of completion showing the graduation date and the curriculum completed. That document is what you carry into the application phase.⁶

Tuition varies widely. Some community college programs run around $5,000; private institutions can charge $50,000 or more. Financial aid, VA benefits, and scholarships may be available depending on the school.

Path Two: Practical Experience

If you skip the school, you qualify by documenting hands-on work. For a single rating, that means at least 18 months of practical experience in the procedures, tools, and equipment relevant to that rating. For both ratings together, 30 months of concurrent airframe and powerplant experience.²

The paperwork burden is on you. Employer letters need to be specific: the type of work performed, the duration, the aircraft makes and models involved, and where the work was done. A letter that just says “worked on aircraft” won’t survive review. An FAA Aviation Safety Inspector or a Designated Mechanic Examiner reviews the documentation and, if satisfied, signs FAA Form 8610-2 authorizing you to test.

Military Experience

If your background is military aviation maintenance, the Joint Service Aviation Maintenance Technician Certification Council evaluates specialties across all branches for FAA credit. FAA Order 8900.1, Volume 5, Chapter 5, Section 2 lists which Military Occupational Specialties, Air Force Specialty Codes, and Naval Enlistment Codes qualify.⁴

Apply at your local Flight Standards District Office. Bring training records, qualification documentation, and a letter from your Executive Officer, Maintenance Officer, or Classification Officer confirming length of service, time in each specialty code, the aircraft and engines worked on, and where the experience was gained. One detail catches people out: only time spent working in the specialty counts. Time spent training for the specialty does not.

The Knowledge Tests

Once you have the 8610-2 authorization, testing starts with three computer-based, multiple-choice exams at PSI Services testing centers: General, Airframe, and Powerplant. Each test is built from the Aviation Mechanic Airman Certification Standards, and the minimum passing score on each is 70%.⁷

Each attempt costs $175, paid online at registration.⁸

Watch the clock. All three knowledge tests must be passed within 24 months, and that same window has to accommodate the oral and practical exams too. Pass General in January 2026 and you have until January 2028 for the rest. Miss it, and the passed tests expire.¹

The Oral and Practical Exams

After you clear the three knowledge tests, you schedule the oral and practical with a Designated Mechanic Examiner. These are hands-on. The DME asks you to explain regulations, troubleshooting methods, and proper procedures, and watches you perform maintenance tasks on real or simulated equipment. The exams cover the same ACS subject areas as the written tests, split into General, Airframe, and Powerplant, and you must pass all three.²

DME fees are set by the individual examiner, not the FAA. Plan on roughly $1,000 to $1,500 total for both ratings, sometimes more. Availability is tight in some regions, so schedule early.

If You Fail a Test

A failed section triggers a mandatory 30-day wait before you can retest it. There’s one shortcut: if a mechanic who already holds the certificate and rating you’re pursuing gives you additional instruction in the failed subjects and signs a statement that you’re ready, you can retest sooner.⁹

Failed attempts still burn calendar off your 24-month window. Run out of time and the sequence resets.

Getting the Certificate in Your Hand

Pass the last practical and the DME issues a temporary mechanic certificate on the spot, valid for up to 120 days while the FAA processes your file. You can exercise full mechanic privileges immediately; there’s no waiting period. The permanent plastic card arrives by mail, and the temporary certificate ends when the permanent one arrives or the 120 days run out, whichever comes first. If the FAA denies the application during that window, the temporary certificate becomes invalid.¹⁰

The permanent certificate is issued for life. It never expires.

Staying Current After You’re Licensed

The certificate doesn’t expire, but your authority to use it lapses if you step away. Within every rolling 24-month period, you need either an FAA finding that you’re competent to do the work, or at least 6 of those 24 months spent working as a mechanic under your certificate, technically supervising other mechanics, or supervising aircraft maintenance in an executive capacity.¹¹

Fall out of currency and you don’t lose the certificate. You just can’t exercise its privileges until the FAA Administrator finds you’re able to do the work again, which usually means contacting your local FSDO for testing or an interview.

One administrative item that slips past a lot of mechanics: you must notify the FAA within 30 days of any change to your permanent mailing address.¹²

1
eCFR. 14 CFR 65.71 – Eligibility Requirements General
2
eCFR. 14 CFR Part 65 Subpart D – Mechanics
3
eCFR. 14 CFR 65.81 – General Privileges and Limitations
4
Federal Aviation Administration. Experience Requirements to Become an Aircraft Mechanic
5
Federal Aviation Administration. Aviation Mechanic General, Airframe, and Powerplant Airman Certification Standards
6
eCFR. 14 CFR Part 147 – Aviation Maintenance Technician Schools
7
Federal Aviation Administration. Companion Guide to the Aviation Mechanic General, Airframe, and Powerplant Airman Certification Standards
8
PSI Services. PSI Services for FAA Testing Programs
9
eCFR. 14 CFR 65.19 – Retesting After Failure
10
eCFR. 14 CFR Part 65 – Certification: Airmen Other Than Flight Crewmembers – Section 65.13
11
eCFR. 14 CFR 65.83 – Recent Experience Requirements
12
Federal Aviation Administration. Update Your Address