Inspection Authorization (IA) is the FAA extra that lets an A&P perform annuals and certain major repairs and alterations sign-offs in general aviation. It is not a second mechanic certificate. Pay-wise, shops do not always publish an “IA scale.” What they do is route the annuals, the 337s, and the owner conversations to the person who can legally end the sentence. If you searched “inspection authorization salary,” you wanted a number. Honest range: think of it as $8,000–$25,000 of extra annual capacity in a busy GA shop — or a lot more if you are the IA running the work. It can also mean nothing extra at a 145 that never uses it.
The stamp is what you may sign. The market pays when there is work attached. 14 CFR 65.91 is eligibility, not a raise. How to get IA is the paper path. This desk is the money path, and it only makes sense after you already hold both ratings and you know whether your hangar actually needs an annual signed. The A&P salary median of $79,870 is the occupation photograph. IA is a overlay on GA, not a BLS row.
What IA actually is, in the hangar
An A&P can maintain. An IA can inspect in the ways 65.95 and the rest of the part allow — annuals, some majors, the conversations with owners who want the airplane back on Saturday. You still have to hold a currently effective mechanic certificate with both airframe and powerplant ratings. You still have to keep the authorization current under 65.93, which renews in March of odd-numbered years. Miss the homework and you have a stamp you cannot use.
Airline heavy and a lot of Part 145 work will never ask you to hold IA. The return-to-service signature lives in the 145’s system, not in your wallet. That is why “IA salary” is a GA question pretending to be a national one. If your five-year plan is a major-airline line, IA is optional education. If your five-year plan is a field with 40 piston singles and two honest IAs retiring, it is the business.
How shops actually pay for the stamp
There is no BLS “IA occupation.” Shops mix three habits. Some add a small hourly premium — a couple of dollars that looks like a license line on an AMT scale. Some pay a flat inspection fee per annual and let you stack them. Some pay nothing extra and still hand you every 337 because you are the one who can finish the sentence. Ask which of the three you are walking into before you sit the written.
| Where the IA lives | How the money usually shows up | When it is a bad bet |
|---|---|---|
| Busy GA / small 145 | Hourly bump, per-annual fee, or both | If the shop already has two IAs and no extra work |
| Your own shop | The business is the pay | If you do not have a base, data, or customers |
| Airline / large 145 | Often unused | If you got IA hoping the line would care |
| Field with retiring IAs | The work arrives | If you will not return phone calls in March |
The $8,000–$25,000 band, without a fantasy
That range is extra annual capacity in a busy GA shop — planning, not a contract. It assumes you are the person annuals get parked in front of, not the person who took the written for LinkedIn. Twenty extra annuals at a real inspection fee will beat a $1.50 hourly bump. Five annuals will not. If you cannot estimate how many annuals the field actually does, you cannot estimate IA pay. Drive the pattern on a Saturday and count the airplanes that still have 1940s fabric and 1990s owners.
Do not add that band on top of the $79,870 median and call it your new life. The median already includes people who hold IA and people who will never hold it. Starting A&Ps should not model IA at all; see starting pay. Year-four GA mechanics who already sign everything except the annual can model it. Year-twelve airline mechanics usually should not.
IA vs nights vs a major
A night differential at a cargo sort can outrun IA in a slow GA county. A major-airline overtime year can outrun both. IA wins when you want control of the work and you have a field that needs the signature. It loses when you got it to feel senior and the shop already has a signer. Compare apples: last year’s W-2 at the 145, a realistic annual count at the field, and rent. Do not compare a LinkedIn title to a night shift you have never worked.
If you are still on the fence, the paper cost is the written, the data you must have at a fixed base, and the March homework every odd year. The opportunity cost is the evenings you spend on 8-hour refreshers instead of overtime. Run that math once. Then decide if you want the how-to or you want a different hangar.
When IA is a business, not a raise
Owners who have been burned by a missing log entry will pay for someone who writes like a grown-up. Owners who want a pencil-whip will find a cheaper stamp. Decide which customer you are building for before you sit the written. The FAA become-a-mechanic path got you the A&P. IA is the extra that only pays if those owners exist in your county, and if you will still answer the phone in February when the annuals stack.
The high end of IA money is not an hourly. It is a shop with a name on the lease, a data subscription, a jack, and owners who return. 65.91 already requires a fixed base of operations and the equipment, facilities, and inspection data to inspect properly. That is a small-business sentence hiding in a regulation. If you cannot be reached in a normal working week, you are not in the IA business. You are collecting stamps.
Owners will pay for an IA who returns the airplane on the promised Friday and writes a log entry a buyer can read. They will not pay a premium for a cranky signer who finds airworthiness as a personality. The authorization lets you end the sentence. The reputation decides whether anyone asks you to start it. Budget liability, data, and the fact that you are now the person who said the airplane was airworthy.
Get the paper only if the work exists
- Both ratings in effect for a total of at least three years — 65.91 is not a vibe.
- Actively engaged in maintaining 14 CFR aircraft for two years before you apply.
- A fixed base, reachable on a work week, with data and equipment.
- A written test. Fail it and you wait at least 90 days.
- Then ask the shop, in writing, how IA is paid. If they shrug, believe the shrug.
The Pay desk will keep citing BLS for the occupation and this page for the stamp. Do not mix them in a school brochure. Do not mix them in a loan application. IA is extra paper on top of an A&P you already used to get hired.
Does IA raise salary automatically?+
No. It raises what you are allowed to sign. The market pays for the signature when there is work attached. A 145 that never uses IA will not pay you for it.
How much extra can IA mean in GA?+
A planning band in a busy shop is $8,000–$25,000 of extra annual capacity — or more if you are the shop. It is not a BLS percentile and it is not year one.
When do I renew IA?+
March of each odd-numbered year under 14 CFR 65.93, with activity in each half of the two-year period. Miss it and the stamp is a paperweight.
Should an airline-bound A&P get IA?+
Only if you want the education or a side field. The line will not pay you for it. Put the hours into the bid and the type unless you have a reason.
Is IA in the BLS mechanic median?+
BLS does not publish an IA wage. The May 2025 mechanic median of $79,870 is the occupation. IA is a GA overlay. See aircraft mechanic salary.
Sources (verified)
Pay bands are planning figures, not offers. Confirm 14 CFR 65.91 and 65.93 on the current eCFR before you apply. Aviation Titans is independent editorial, not a school or FSDO.