L1011GE
Okay I'll take the hook.....
In 24 years I never worked on airliners so am not sure if you've taken the narrow view. Having commissioned through the ranks, I did do the hands on for almost half of my career. After that it depended on the environment.
On a sqn as an EngO at least half of my day was spent on the line, the outdoor bit. However HAS sites were different, if you tried to do the same you only knew what was happening in your immediate area and lost touch with the rest of your shop. Whcih you are supposed to be in charge of. There was also plenty of opportunity to get dirty during special weapons checks but that also meant lots of time in the office because you have to read and sign every single job card to check noone had interfered with the weapon systems. A nauseating and time consuming job. 2nd line aircraft work offered interesting engineering problems occasionally.
To answer the original question. Unfortunately, there are now limited opportunities for sqn work and these form a small proportion of your career as an EngO. And the overheads of personnel managment are huge. Engineer is probably a misnomer on units its more engineering management. Most of your career will be in staff tours with very little opportunity for hands on work and the amount of engineering inolvement varies, trials officers get lots, support management try and buy spares with no budget and try and deal with rafts of standards.
PS I PVR'd