Welcome to Season 8 of the AVIATE podcast. This season is all about the change makers, young leaders, innovators, and builders who are reshaping aviation in bold ways. And today’s episode highlights a part of the industry most people don’t see, but every flight depends on.
Veronica Leacock Borchardt has built her career in aviation maintenance, where the margin for error is zero. Her story is about precision, persistence, and what it really takes to keep aircraft safe, reliable, and moving, especially as the workforce faces growing strain.
Veronica Leacock Borchardt and the Backbone of Every Flight
Aviation maintenance is one of the most critical functions in our industry, and it is under real pressure. The U.S. is projected to face a shortage of 30,000+ certified maintenance technicians by the end of the decade, and nearly 40% of the current workforce is over 50. As fleets grow more complex and demand continues to rise, maintenance is both a safety priority and a business risk.
Veronica’s story also opens a bigger conversation about visibility, retention, and what it will take to build a stronger technician pipeline.
The Big Picture
Most aviation conversations center around pilots and aircraft. This episode centers around the people who keep those aircraft airworthy.
Veronica grew up in Panama around aviation. Her father was an aircraft technician, and she chose the hangar floor as her path. Later, when she immigrated to the U.S., she learned quickly that experience doesn’t always translate cleanly across systems. She had to rebuild her credentials through a rigorous process while navigating life, identity, and the pressure to prove herself all over again.
Her journey is resilience, in real time.
What We Cover in the Conversation
Choosing the hangar over the flight deck
Why Veronica deliberately chose maintenance, and how early exposure to aviation shaped her purpose.
Motherhood and mastery under pressure
Becoming a parent while still in training, and what it reveals about the gaps in support for women technicians.
Starting over in the U.S. system
The reality of meeting FAA standards, revalidating experience, and earning trust in a new framework.
Trust is the currency
How maintenance runs on judgment, reliability, and calm decision-making because one call can ground an aircraft or prevent an incident.
Technology is changing the workflow
Predictive maintenance, AI-assisted inspections, and drones are reshaping the work, but accountability stays human.
By the numbers
30,000+ projected U.S. shortage of certified maintenance technicians by the end of the decade
Nearly 40% of the current maintenance workforce is over age 50
About 3% women in certificated aviation maintenance
Zero margin for error, every flight depends on maintenance
Listen to the Episode
About AVIATE
AVIATE is hosted by me, Shaesta Waiz, the 8th woman in history to fly solo around the world in a single-engine aircraft. Along that journey, I met people everywhere who wanted to talk about the same themes that inspired this show.
AVIATE stands for Acknowledging those in our industry, Vocalizing our experiences, Inclusion, Acting on our passions, Travel, and Evolving.
Now in its eighth season and exclusively sponsored by Atlantic Aviation, AVIATE is heard in over 100 countries.
Until next time,
Shaesta