ATEC is conducting a survey of FAA Aviation Maintenance Technician Schools (AMTS) to assess key trends in aviation maintenance education and guide future association activities and priorities. Survey response requests were sent to the primary contact at each AMTS location on March 24. A copy of the survey is available here.

Responses to the survey populate the ATEC Pipeline Report, the primary source of information on AMTS supply vs. workforce demand for certificated mechanics. Data is also used to populate ATEC's Online School Directory, which provides real time program and contact information for industry representatives seeking educational partners.

If your school did not receive an invitation to participate or would like to confirm your school's primary contact, please email atec@atec-amt.org. 

The deadline to response is May 1.

In a letter to congressional leaders, the council and its allies asked for the advancement of regulatory process reforms to support the transition of military members with maintenance experience into the civil commercial aviation industry. The group pointed to the cumbersome process exiting military service men and women face when seeking civilian mechanic certification and the need for a better way.

ATEC joined with Airlines for America, the Aerospace Industries Association, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the Aeronautical Repair Station Association recommending reforms to part 65 to harmonize maintenance pathways with those available to pilots under part 61. Namely, the coalition called for Congress to direct the FAA to expand the pilot military competency testing process so that it is available to those veterans seeking mechanic certification.

"It is an unfortunate fact that military members with maintenance experience are not making the transition from active military service to the civil commercial aviation industry in large numbers," said the group. "What’s more, there is a significant disparity between military aviators and maintainers when it comes to pursuing careers in commercial aviation. It is reported that the commercial aviation industry is capturing 70% of military aviators as commercial pilots while only 10% of maintainers are succeeding in pursuing careers in commercial aviation maintenance."

The effort is intended to spur support from transportation committee leadership for legislative language in the upcoming FAA reauthorization bill. ATEC has long called on the FAA to develop a more efficient pathway to mechanic certification for military veterans (see Legislative issues page). While the mil comp test opportunity would likely divert some exiting military from full A&P school enrollment, it would also provide opportunities for schools to support military competency test preparation, and capture more of our exiting military to meet industry workforce demand.

The FAA recently published the new part 147 online training course for its inspector workforce. The approximately 2-hour asynchronous course is available to industry for a $150 registration fee. Participants can use the instructions below to enroll for the course.

Attendees must first register for an account in the FAA's Designee Registration System if they do not already have one:

• Go to https://av-info.faa.gov/DsgReg/login.aspx
• Select Login
• Login or Create Account

When logged into your DRS account:

• Under Student tab select the Aviation Safety Training for Industry and Other Government Agency Participants for FS courses category
• Select the FAA27100162, Intro to Part 147 Aviation Maintenance Technician Schools for GA Airworthiness ASIs course
• Select Go to Section
• Request and invitation code from the FAA email listed under the Section Description (please allow a few days for a response) 

Once you have the invitation code, you will receive payment instructions and once processed, the course will be available under the "Enrollments" menu.

ATEC members are encouraged to provide any feedback to the FAA course directly to the agency, or to ATEC Executive Director Crystal Maguire.

Reauthorization is the process by which Congress provides funding and operating authority for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and typically serves as a vehicle to address a range of aviation issues. The last reauthorization bill was approved in 2018 and authorized the FAA for five years (it was the first five-year authorization since 1982). That authorization is set to expire September 30, 2023.

Ahead of the October deadline, Congress is actively soliciting industry input. These deliberations provide a relatively rare opportunity for the council to propose and move legislative priorities that further aviation technical workforce initiatives.

The council’s legislative committee has identified and communicated the following priorities for consideration in the next FAA reauthorization bill:
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• Ensure FAA airman certification standards (ACS) are maintained in support of aviation safety and industry workforce needs. The ACS are a product of a highly successful, decades-long collaboration between the FAA and industry stakeholders to clearly define what a person needs to know, say, and do to obtain airman certification, including mechanic certification. The collaborative process is threatened by recent and overly restrictive interpretation of the Administrative Procedures Act, specifically language on ex parte communications. ATEC asks Congress to implement recommendations submitted by a call-to-action subgroup in direct response to congressional request that call for timely publishing of time-critical safety information and continued engagement with community partners to continually improve the ACS and accompanying guidance materials.

 

• Support a skilled and dynamic aviation workforce by increasing workforce grant program funding. In the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act, Congress established the Aviation Workforce Development Grants program. The program was massively oversubscribed with more than 350 applicants for just $10 million in available funds in the first round of distributions. The council encourages Congress to expand the program as recommend in the Youth Access to American Jobs in Aviation Report, by allocating $50 million in the next FAA reauthorization bill. ATEC also recommends expanding eligibility to including non-profit organizations, clarifying that part 147 schools are eligible for grants and that a past award grant doesn’t bar you from a future grant, allocating funding to FAA personnel to run the program; improving transparency and industry engagement; and creating a mechanism to share case studies about how grant money has been put to use.

 

• Provide mechanic trainees the opportunity to take a portion of the FAA mechanic test earlier in their training cycle, to support and encourage aviation maintenance programs in high school. Under the current regulatory framework, high school aviation maintenance programs may not—unlike their pilot program counterparts—refer their students to an FAA-approved testing center to take the general written knowledge test. This is a disadvantage to high school maintenance programs who cannot take advantage of the generally adopted consensus that individuals completing a portion of required testing earlier in the training cycle are more likely to ultimately become certified. The council requests that Congress direct the agency to modify part 65 to allow applicants to sit for the general knowledge test prior to meeting those experience requirements

 

• Implement initiatives that will expedite service member transition into civil aviation careers. ATEC estimates the civil aviation industry is capturing less than 10 percent of exiting veterans with aviation maintenance experience. More can and should be done to ease the burden experienced by veterans with valuable experience but no clear path to civilian certification. The council asks its legislative leaders to direct the FAA to create a military competency exam that will provide a pathway to mechanic certification for existing servicemen and women, similar to the pathway available to military pilots.

For more detail on the above priorities, click here.

Plan to join us to push these important initiatives at the Fly-In, taking place September 19-22 in Washington DC.

As follow on to previous advocacy efforts (see related story), a coalition of aviation organizations sent a letter to the FAA's regulatory support division, voicing joint concerns for the future state of the FAA testing system.

The group highlighted the recent change in PSI's third-party testing reimbursement rates as one example of recent missteps by the government contractor that negatively impacts access to testing. "PSI maintains that the fee reductions will not impact applicants, yet the contractor avoids transparency and refuses to provide data necessary for third parties to validate its assertions," said the group. "Specifically, our request for a complete list of testing locations, seating capacity, and the distribution of PSI-owned vs. third-party testing facilities was denied by the contractor."

The letter, signed by a coalition including ATEC, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Aviation Supplies & Academics, the National Air Transportation Association, and the National Association of Flight Instructors, made several recommendations:

1. Perform and publish an independent, FAA assessment of knowledge test accessibility before and after the January 1, 2023 fee change, including quantifying the net change in seat capacity for each FAA test, the impact to testing accessibility (i.e., decreased access geographically), and PSI’s ability to provide quality replacements for third-party testing center seats that leave the network.
2. Develop additional ways to increase testing capacity and lessen industry exposure resulting from the current single-provider framework. Alternative proctoring methods and additional providers should be explored, including virtual proctoring and/or utilization of the current network of accredited institutions holding Part 141 and/or 147 air agency certificates.
3. Using stakeholder feedback, produce and publish an assessment of PSI’s performance under the FAA contract, what benchmarks have not been met, and shortfalls that should be addressed to ensure proper performance through the initial term.
4. Perform an assessment of the FAA’s current certification process, assessing the effectiveness of the Agency’s strong emphasis and reliance on knowledge exams relative to other forms of competency testing.

The letter was accompanied by two Freedom of Information requests filed by AOPA last month, asking for the FAA to make available a copy of the FAA-PSI government contract and a full list of all testing centers, before and after the Jan. 1 change so that industry could make it's own assessment on capacity changes.