ATEC Fly-In: FAA Updates On Test Data, Certification Backlog, Grants, and More

The Council's annual Fly-In featured its annual update from FAA officials on rules, guidance, and other action items that affect aviation maintenance technician schools (AMTS). Among this year's headlines: an imminent breakthrough on getting student test data to schools, and efforts to streamline certifications.

The FAA plans to make available Part 147.25 Minimum Passage Rate data starting at the end of this month, Leisha Bell, Acting Deputy Director, Office of Safety Standards, told Fly-In attendees in a wide-ranging regulatory update session.

The initial dataset will include three years of data and will be updated quarterly. Plans call for it to be available online via FAA.gov, but not immediately.

Release of a "comprehensive" testing database is planned for 2027, Bell said. The database "will enable the FAA to generate broader quality reporting for both internal oversight and industry improvement plans, developments, and deliverables," she explained.

ATEC has long called for access to broader, school-specific data that can help spotlight specific trends, such as identifying where training could be improved down to the specific Airman Certification Standards code. The FAA says that's what is coming.

"We're definitely looking into how to package that and how to present that to the group here, where all the schools can identify their own school and see their data," said AFS-300, Airmen Section Manager, Airman and Special Programs Group Kevin Morgan.

Meanwhile, the FAA is evaluating how it evaluates application packets for new certificates, including part 147 applications, with an eye on streamlining the process.

"Internally, we have recognized that it takes too long," Bell said, "But we have maximized the working-faster model."

Among the changes: limiting the amount of information that applicants must provide up front.

"The intent there is to review the certification process for all of the regulatory parts to make sure we're not asking for things that really we shouldn't be asking for," he said.

The agency also plans to allocate application reviews based on resources, not geography.

"Who will actually do the certification after the annual virtual review? That could be the centralized certification office. That could be the FSDO that would do the oversight. That could be a FSDO that the only time you are ever going to deal with them is that certification process," Bell said. "We are trying to manage our resources at the [organizational] level,  and not the individual FSDO level."

Bell acknowledged the shift will require a cultural change within the agency's regional offices, and that could take time.

The council fully supports speeding up part 147 and other certificate applications. It will work with the FAA to address possible hurdles, such as what happens if the local FSDO overseeing a newly awarded applicant disagrees with another FSDO that approved the original application.

Other FAA updates:

• The FAA plans to announce the latest workforce grant winners in the coming weeks, said Chief of Staff, Aviation Safety Yvette Rose. Round four of the FAA's workforce grant pool proved popular. The agency received 185 applications under the Aviation Maintenance Technical Workers Workforce Development Grant Program, and 420 total, by the June deadline, Rose said.
• FAA officials believe the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC) process, including subcommittees and working groups, will return and resume work based on priorities and taskings in place when it was paused in 2025. The big question that remains unanswered is: When?
• Several attendees voiced their frustrations at the lack of designated mechanic examiners (DME). Not only is the approval of new DMEs slow, but in some cases it's not starting until an existing DME covering a geographical area is no longer working. This makes DME retirement transitions difficult and makes access for students even more challenging. Bell said the FAA's DME population is up to 285 after adding 31 in Fiscal Year 2026. Another 50 are in the application pipeline.