Avionics Technicians
Also called Aircraft Electrical Systems Specialist, Avionics Electronics Technician (Avionics Electronics Tech), Avionics Installer, or Avionics Repair Technician (Avionics Repair Tech)
Updated · Source: O*NET 31.0
What Avionics Technicians do
You keep the electronics inside aircraft working, the radios, radar, and navigation gear that pilots trust to know where they are.
Avionics is the word for the electronic systems inside an aircraft or spacecraft: radios, radar, navigation equipment, instruments, and the wiring that connects them. Avionics technicians install that equipment, test it, find out why it is acting up, and fix or replace the parts that fail. You work with hand tools, power tools, and soldering irons (heated tools that melt metal to join wires), and with test gear like voltmeters and oscilloscopes that show you what electricity is actually doing inside a circuit.
Most of the work happens indoors in a climate-controlled hangar (the large building where aircraft are parked and worked on) or a repair shop. You read blueprints and wiring diagrams, log every repair in writing, and talk regularly with engineers, mechanics, and other technicians. Careful record-keeping is part of the job, not an extra.
A day in the life
You start by reading the fault report a pilot or crew left about an aircraft: a radio that cuts out, a navigation display that freezes. You pull the manual and wiring diagram, then trace the circuit with a tester until the fault shows itself. Sometimes it is a loose connection you resolder in ten minutes. Sometimes it takes hours. You swap a failed part, reconnect it, then set up ground test equipment, machines that run the system while the plane is still on the ground, and check that it behaves the way it should. Between jobs you write everything down, because the records follow the aircraft. You check in with a mechanic working on the same plane and ask an engineer about odd flight test data. Quiet focus, then conversation, then back to your workbench.
This could fit you if you…
- ✓Like finding the one bad connection in a tangle of wires
- ✓Enjoy working with your hands and small precise tools
- ✓Are comfortable reading manuals, blueprints, and diagrams
- ✓Keep careful records without being nagged
- ✓Want technical work that does not require a four-year degree
You might not like it if you…
- –Lose patience when a fault takes hours to track down
- –Dislike paperwork, since logging every repair is required
- –Want to be outdoors or moving around all day
- –Prefer work where close enough is good enough
How people get in
- 1Build a base in high school with math, physics, and any electronics or shop classes you can take.
- 2Enroll in an avionics maintenance technology program at a technical school or community college; most people start with a certificate from a training program after high school, rather than a four-year degree.
- 3Practice the hands-on basics: soldering, using a voltmeter, reading wiring diagrams, and following a manual exactly.
- 4Look for an entry role at a repair shop, airline maintenance base, or aircraft manufacturer, where new technicians usually work alongside experienced ones at first.
- 5Consider military electronics training, which many people use as a route into this field.
- 6Keep adding to your skills on specific systems as you go, and keep your maintenance records clean and complete.
Who tends to enjoy it
Hands-on
People who like building, fixing, working with tools, machines, plants, or animals.
Organizing
People who like keeping things accurate, orderly, and running on schedule.
Curious
People who like figuring things out, research, science, and solving problems.
Official task list
Avionics Technicians install, inspect, test, adjust, or repair avionics equipment, such as radar, radio, navigation, and missile control systems in aircraft or space vehicles. (O*NET)
- Adjust, repair, or replace malfunctioning components or assemblies, using hand tools or soldering irons.
- Lay out installation of aircraft assemblies and systems, following documentation such as blueprints, manuals, and wiring diagrams.
- Keep records of maintenance and repair work.
- Test and troubleshoot instruments, components, and assemblies, using circuit testers, oscilloscopes, or voltmeters.
- Connect components to assemblies such as radio systems, instruments, magnetos, inverters, and in-flight refueling systems, using hand tools and soldering irons.
- Install electrical and electronic components, assemblies, and systems in aircraft, using hand tools, power tools, or soldering irons.
- Coordinate work with that of engineers, technicians, and other aircraft maintenance personnel.
- Set up and operate ground support and test equipment to perform functional flight tests of electrical and electronic systems.
A typical day involves
Skills that matter most
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
- Repairing
- Critical Thinking
- Operations Monitoring
- Quality Control Analysis
What you'll need to know
- Computers and Electronics
- Mechanical
- English Language
- Engineering and Technology
- Customer and Personal Service
How much Avionics Technicians make
The median pay for Avionics Technicians in the U.S. is $82,280 a year ($39.56 an hour). Most earn between $49,410 and $113,680. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025)
Pay depends a lot on where you live: the median is highest in Pennsylvania ($117,470) and lowest in Puerto Rico ($37,660).
Pay by state and territory
| State | Median pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $95,920 | 910 |
| Alaska | $94,810 | 50 |
| Arizona | $79,770 | 600 |
| Arkansas | $54,160 | 100 |
| California | $92,480 | 1,220 |
| Colorado | $79,000 | 220 |
| Florida | $83,800 | 2,400 |
| Georgia | $79,060 | 1,820 |
| Hawaii | $86,260 | 90 |
| Idaho | $80,620 | 80 |
| Illinois | $81,170 | 300 |
| Indiana | $76,770 | 60 |
| Kansas | $59,810 | 170 |
| Kentucky | $42,440 | — |
| Louisiana | $80,250 | 200 |
| Maryland | $97,490 | 160 |
| Massachusetts | $89,340 | 40 |
| Michigan | $58,280 | 300 |
| Minnesota | $55,660 | — |
| Mississippi | $65,830 | 160 |
| Missouri | $71,520 | 90 |
| Montana | $57,420 | — |
| Nevada | $80,040 | 50 |
| New Hampshire | $86,830 | 30 |
| New Jersey | $100,250 | 260 |
| New Mexico | $94,020 | — |
| New York | $83,150 | 130 |
| North Carolina | $78,710 | 520 |
| North Dakota | $59,900 | 80 |
| Ohio | $60,080 | 160 |
| Oklahoma | $70,640 | 530 |
| Oregon | $83,830 | 140 |
| Pennsylvania | $117,470 | 70 |
| Puerto Rico | $37,660 | — |
| South Carolina | $81,720 | 270 |
| South Dakota | $83,220 | 40 |
| Tennessee | $60,820 | 480 |
| Texas | $81,950 | 1,710 |
| Utah | $65,270 | 180 |
| Virginia | $85,660 | 250 |
| Washington | $91,380 | 3,400 |
| Wisconsin | $65,230 | 130 |
| Wyoming | $84,360 | — |
Where to study for this
College programs that commonly lead to this career, and how many US colleges offer each.
- Avionics Maintenance Technology / Technician 53 colleges
- Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical / Space Engineering, Other 1 colleges
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Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA), occupation 49-2091.00, used under CC BY 4.0 and modified by Whittle. Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), SOC 49-2091. Outlook and entry education: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Program links: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. How we build these pages.