Definition
The A&P certificate is the foundational aviation maintenance credential in the United States, established under 14 CFR Part 65 Subpart D. §65.71 establishes eligibility requirements: the applicant must be at least 18 years old, be able to read, write, speak, and understand English, and demonstrate either 18 months of practical experience (for Airframe or Powerplant individually) or 30 months of concurrent experience on both powerplant and airframe, or graduate from an FAA-certificated aviation maintenance technician school under 14 CFR Part 147, which typically runs 18–24 months. Graduation from a Part 147 school satisfies the experience requirement and qualifies the graduate to take all three certificate knowledge tests.
Three written knowledge tests must be passed before the oral and practical: a General test (covers regulations, mathematics, physics, and tools), an Airframe test, and a Powerplant test. Each test has a minimum passing score of 70%. Following passage of the written tests, the applicant must pass an oral and practical test with a Designated Mechanic Examiner (DME) or an FAA Aviation Safety Inspector. The oral covers regulatory knowledge and the specific systems of the airframe or powerplant; the practical requires the applicant to demonstrate actual hands-on maintenance tasks to the examiner's satisfaction.
The privileges granted by the A&P certificate under §65.81 (Airframe) and §65.87 (Powerplant) allow the holder to perform any task listed in 14 CFR Part 43 Appendix A for the applicable rating — a comprehensive list covering structural repairs, powerplant installation/removal, avionics installation, landing gear service, fuel system work, and more. Under §65.95, an A&P may also supervise preventive maintenance tasks performed by a certificated pilot on their own aircraft. However, the A&P certificate does not authorize the holder to perform an annual inspection and return the aircraft to service — that authority requires an additional Inspection Authorization (IA) under §65.91. An A&P without an IA can perform and sign off a 100-hour inspection (required under §91.409(b) for aircraft operated for hire or flight instruction), but cannot conduct the annual inspection that every aircraft must receive at least once per calendar year.
Part 145 repair stations employ A&Ps as the core maintenance workforce. Under 14 CFR Part 145, all work performed on certificated aircraft must be accomplished by or under the supervision of a certificated mechanic with the appropriate rating. For EASA operations, the broadly equivalent credential is the Part-66 Aircraft Maintenance Licence (AML) — available in categories A (line maintenance certifying technician), B1 (airframe/engine structures), B2 (avionics), and C (base maintenance certifying staff). The Part-66 AML includes both written examinations and experience requirements, and the privilege structure differs from the FAA system: a Part-66 B1 or B2 licence holder issues a Certificate of Release to Service (CRS) directly, whereas an FAA A&P signs a maintenance record entry under §43.9 and requires an IA (or the operator's Airworthiness Release under Part 121/135) to approve return to service.
Why It Matters for Flight Schools
For flight schools operating under Part 91 or Part 141, the A&P mechanic is the gatekeeper to airworthy training aircraft. Schools that maintain their own fleets in-house — as many larger Part 141 operations do — employ one or more A&P mechanics to perform 100-hour inspections, AD compliance work, troubleshooting, and component replacement. The relationship between the school's A&P staff and any IA retained for annual inspections is a critical scheduling interface: 100-hour inspections can proceed at any time, but the annual inspection requires scheduling the IA, who may be a contract mechanic with limited availability.
Squawk management — the process of identifying, documenting, evaluating, and clearing aircraft discrepancies — is the daily operational interface between flight operations and the A&P maintenance team. Under §91.213 and MEL/MMEL principles, not every squawk grounds an aircraft, but every squawk must be evaluated by someone qualified to make that determination. In a Part 141 school, the flight operations staff typically flags squawks and the A&P determines disposition. Without a clear workflow, squawks accumulate, MEL deferrals go unchecked, and aircraft slip into an undocumented unairworthy state.
How Aviatize Handles This
Aviatize's maintenance execution module provides the squawk-to-work-order workflow that links flight crew discrepancy reports to A&P mechanic assignments. When an instructor or student reports a squawk at the end of a flight, the system creates a work item that the maintenance team triages — clearing it as no-fault-found, deferring it under the applicable MEL provision with an expiry date, or creating a full work order for A&P maintenance action. The aircraft's airworthiness status is updated in real time and reflected in the booking engine, so no flight can be scheduled on an aircraft with an open grounding squawk or an expired MEL deferral.
Maintenance record entries required by §43.9 — description of work, date, aircraft total time, signature, and certificate number of the certifying mechanic — are captured digitally within each completed work order. The A&P's certificate number, ratings, and currency are stored in the platform and auto-populated on every record entry, satisfying the §91.417 record-keeping requirement while eliminating manual log entry. For schools preparing for FSDO surveillance or a Part 145 quality audit, the complete maintenance history for every aircraft is exportable in a format suitable for inspector review.