What’s going rate for an a&p

alaskan9974

alaskan9974

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Messages
234
Location
Alaska
Display Name
alaskan9974
Wondering what’s a fair price to advertise for an A&P to fly out to get my plane ferryable. A&P that was doing the work left it halfway done. Needs throttle cable replaced, interior side panels installed and a strut resealed. Was thinking of saying airfare, lodging provided and $500 a day or $100 an hour? Not sure what an A&P makes nowadays.
 
I would select one or more that I like or have had good recommendations for, then ask them how much they want.
 
alaskan9974 said:
Was thinking of saying airfare, lodging provided and $500 a day or $100 an hour?
Click to expand...
This in Alaska? The A&P market up there different than lower 48.
Airfare as in ANC to a remote area? If remote, best to work out a day rate with lodging included.
Where would you ferry the aircraft to? Will it need a Ferry Permit as well?
Did the previous A&P sign-off the work he performed?
 
I'd think "whatever they ask for, plus tip" since most A&Ps I know are drowning in more work than they need and would likely prefer their comfy armchair to your frozen ramp :)
 
schmookeeg said:
I'd think "whatever they ask for, plus tip" since most A&Ps I know are drowning in more work than they need and would likely prefer their comfy armchair to your frozen ramp :)
Click to expand...
Heated hangar but yes, will advertise at $1k a day or $200 an hour plus expenses etc and see if I get any bites thanks.
 
AvNavCom said:
You should look around and see if you can find that mythical FAA A&P who works for $85/hr.
Click to expand...
There are still independent A&Ps who charge around that point but it tends to be location specific and in some cases what services they offer. For example, my mx rate was $75/hr up till about 5 years ago when I combined it into my consulting rate as I wasn't performing standalone mx anymore.
 
Bell206 said:
There are still independent A&Ps who charge around that point but it tends to be location specific and in some cases what services they offer. For example, my mx rate was $75/hr up till about 5 years ago when I combined it into my consulting rate as I wasn't performing standalone mx anymore.
Click to expand...

A lot has definitely changed in 5 years thanks to the Post Covid pricing and everyone using that as a reason to charge almost double than pre-COVID. Local shops were charging $85/hr pre-COVID. My local shop just increased to $140/hr. Ouch!!
 
Fracpilot said:
A lot has definitely changed in 5 years thanks to the Post Covid pricing and everyone using that as a reason to charge almost double than pre-COVID. Local shops were charging $85/hr pre-COVID. My local shop just increased to $140/hr. Ouch!!
Click to expand...
You know, I'm as attached to my money as any other aircraft owner, although I do believe that money on maintenance is generally well-spent and I'm inclined to spend on maintenance to keep things in optimal condition. In the context of the historical (and now largely mythical in any area of population concentration) $85/hr A&P, paying $125-140/hr does sting a bit. But I just got a quote from my local motorcycle maintenance shop, and they're charging $185/hr for labor. Frankly, I'd rather be paying that rate to my A&P if it means that they have ample personnel and availability, and in that context the $140/hr starts to look like a bargain, considering we're risking our lives on their skills, knowledge, and attention to detail. If we want GA mechanics to remain a viable option (vice just heading to the airlines) then I think we need to accept higher hourly rates.
 
Fracpilot said:
A lot has definitely changed in 5 years thanks to the Post Covid pricing and everyone using that as a reason to charge almost double than pre-COVID. Local shops were charging $85/hr pre-COVID. My local shop just increased to $140/hr. Ouch!!
Click to expand...
Try pricing dealer car service.

I have heard that Porsche is charging over $400 per hour.
 
Do you just need an A&P mechanic or someone with an IA as well. I would be leery of someone who has enough free time to travel far to do the work. Short of finding someone who just retired and is still curent, any A&P worth their salt is going to be able to find plenty of work wherever they already reside. Are you sure there isn't someone local that can help you out? Who do others in the area use?
 
Pinecone said:
Try pricing dealer car service.

I have heard that Porsche is charging over $400 per hour.
Click to expand...
Indeed, it’s a scam. My local Mazda dealer does not tell you their labor rate or the hours for any given job, just a flat dollar number to do the job, which I can assure you represents a very high effective labor rate. In addition they charge 15% over MSRP for parts. That’s for a Japanese economy car…

Meanwhile the A&P who helps me charges $100 an hour, $450 labor in total for a heavily owner assisted Annual, and I’m happy with that. He also comes to our house for dinner occasionally whereas at a car dealer you can’t even talk to the mechanic just some uninformed service salesperson.
 
Tusayan said:
Indeed, it’s a scam. My local Mazda dealer does not tell you their labor rate or the hours for any given job, just a flat dollar number to do the job, which I can assure you represents a very high effective labor rate. In addition they charge 15% over MSRP for parts. That’s for a Japanese economy car…

Meanwhile the A&P who helps me charges $100 an hour, $450 labor in total for a heavily owner assisted Annual, and I’m happy with that. He also comes to our house for dinner occasionally whereas at a car dealer you can’t even talk to the mechanic just some uninformed service salesperson.
Click to expand...
Wow....he works fast to perform the inspection and paperwork in 4.5 hrs. lol ;)
 
Six:

What do you think the hours should be?

172 or sim, 50 hr/yr/ owner opens, cleans ,services, and closes.

IA has previously inspected the the aircraft multiple times.

No repairs.
 
Magman said:
Six:

What do you think the hours should be?

172 or sim, 50 hr/yr/ owner opens, cleans ,services, and closes.

IA has previously inspected the the aircraft multiple times.

No repairs.
Click to expand...
well....compression checks, run-up, and paper work is a couple hours....then everything else is probably 6-7 hrs. It's a two day job plus paperwork if I do them. If you're using the OEM Annual check list it takes time.... But, I'm slow.... lol ;)
 
Last edited:
With recurrent inspections paperwork is likely a 1/2 hr or so.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
Wow....he works fast to perform the inspection and paperwork in 4.5 hrs. lol ;)
Click to expand...
That’s exactly how long it takes him, because I do the majority of the work. My plane is in an excellent maintenance state after 14 years of me fussing on it, with him and another guy before him casting a critical eye and telling me what needs more attention - most of the work is done before he inspects it, by me under supervision.

The IA inspection takes 4 hrs, his paperwork 30 minutes. Both of us already know the work already done and the AD status when he gets the plane. I deliver it the night before (taxiing across the airport with no cowling, interior or access panels etc) and he’s done by lunch time, with a hand written list of what more I need to do. Typically that follow-on effort and reassembly takes me another day of supervised work, or a couple of weeks, or a month or whatever it takes, and then after he takes a look at the results four c-notes and a fifty produces stickers for the logbooks, documenting all the work done. No work order or estimate is written, no receipt is produced.
 
Last edited:
FIRST TimeAnnual I identify ALL AD’s as to whether they apply or not and

WHY. Also all RECURRENT are on a separate sheet.

This does take time. Later it only takes a few minutes to verify if any are

almost due.

Note: This is determining if compliance is needed ; not doing any action

required. Other advantages as well. AD compliance required is a

discrepancy like a repair and not part of an inspection. Doesn’t take too

long to check on new B/W.

Big advantage in doing the same aircraft multiple times.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
which check list does he use?
Click to expand...
WE make reference to the factory checklist, although it is crude and/or incomplete, for example telling you to check valve clearances on an O-320. I believe a prototype was built with an O-235, although none were sold with that engine, and that is the source of that error. There are others. A hundred of the type were built in total and the documentation has bugs. It’s useful as a guide, or source of information, not as a bible. The better version of the checklist is also BTW in a foreign language, but it happens to be the IA’s native language. You probably wouldn’t do as well with it as he does.

A lot of enthusiasm and detailed study goes into maintaining my plane, as simple as it is, and after 14 annual inspections and a number of improvement campaigns its condition is known quite closely by both me and the IA. This is the advantage of owning, studying and flying something over a period of time and maintaining it with a IA you know. Maintenance isn’t a ritual, it’s based on having a picture in your head of every single component and structure of the plane you fly. There is no way I’d drop my plane off to a random A&P, however thorough he might be, armed with only the factory checklist. You could not expect the same results no matter if he spent days on it. I’d have to educate him over a period of years.
 
Last edited:
I'm amazed he does the factory check list and paperwork in 4.5 hours.....;)
 
We do more than the factory checklist at annual time, because as I described its of relatively poor quality and incomplete.

Throw away one liners don’t describe proper maintenance of a light aircraft.
 
Tusayan said:
WE make reference to the factory checklist,
Click to expand...
Just a note, if by "make reference to" you include the factory checklist by name in your mx record sign-off statement, but do not follow that checklist in its entirety regardless the reason, you may leave yourself open to a possible violation. While Part 43.15(c) allows flexibility in what checklist is used, a better route when using multiple checklist references is to simply drop the single checklist reference in the sign-off statement and stick just with the word "annual inspection" as shown in 43.11. Unfortunately, have seen one too many mechanics get tagged on this.
 
I've seen 130-150. Probably a irrational range...should be free, right?
 
bluerooster said:
Ours is $135, but the guys actually doing the work only get about $20.
Click to expand...

When we use the shop, the shop pays ~$35/hr for an A&P and $50/hr for an IA. The shop also has a 4% match and provides health benefits as well as the overhead and insurance. The shop pays for a base 40-hr/week and O/T for time beyond.

The guys there are happy and it’s a stable workforce.

The independent guy charges $135/hr without regard to which certificate he’s exercising.
 
TCABM said:
When we use the shop, the shop pays ~$35/hr for an A&P and $50/hr for an IA. The shop also has a 4% match and provides health benefits as well as the overhead and insurance. The shop pays for a base 40-hr/week and O/T for time beyond.

The guys there are happy and it’s a stable workforce.

The independent guy charges $135/hr without regard to which certificate he’s exercising.
Click to expand...
We have no benefits at all. No PTO, no OT, If you take a 30 min lunch, you work 30 min for free, etc.
 
Bell206 said:
Just a note, if by "make reference to" you include the factory checklist by name in your mx record sign-off statement, but do not follow that checklist in its entirety regardless the reason, you may leave yourself open to a possible violation. While Part 43.15(c) allows flexibility in what checklist is used, a better route when using multiple checklist references is to simply drop the single checklist reference in the sign-off statement and stick just with the word "annual inspection" as shown in 43.11. Unfortunately, have seen one too many mechanics get tagged on this.
Click to expand...

Yes, there are some factory checklists which include the instruction to ensure that all applicable factory service bulletins have been complied with. So you want to be sure you know what's on that list if you are going to cite it in your logbook entry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top