Changing Careers After 20+ Years
Starting as an AMT at my age (47) might even be an advantage.
Troy Lindsay
Hagerstown Campus, MD
Programs:
Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT)
Employment:
PSA Airlines, Aircraft Maintenance Technician
Troy Lindsay spent most of his career as a mechanical engineer. But when his son Trent, a pilot, told him how interesting he found aviation maintenance, Lindsay’s excitement about the topic told him it was time for a change. After graduating from PIA Youngstown in 2021, Lindsay became an AMT with PSA Airlines — the same airline that his son first began flying for.
Lindsay’s PIA training quickly came in handy: “Within my first two months at PSA, I had to file and blend an elevator that was damaged by an adjacent panel. It was small, but critical, as it was a flight control surface. It reminded me how we had to file and blend a propeller in class. Some students wondered if that lesson would be useful in the real world, yet there it was: a crucial task that our PIA training had prepared me for.”
Lindsay says he is looking forward to his career change: “Starting as an AMT at my age (47) might even be an advantage. Overall, I’m feeling optimistic I will succeed in my transition.”