DME Accessibility: FAA Considers Potential Solution

As reported in the recent ATEC Pipeline Report, 30% of A&P school graduates do not take the exam necessary to receive a mechanic certificate. Access to practical testing examiners was identified as one of the top barriers for students seeking FAA mechanic certification. An ATEC contingency recently joined FAA officials to discuss one possible solution to the testing bottleneck.

The agency is considering organization designation authorization (ODA) for practical testing. That means that a school (or other properly certificated entity) could create its own quality system to manage a group of designated mechanic examiners (DME), alleviating the need for FAA oversight of each individual DME. 

The system would free up FAA resources while expanding the DME workforce. FAA officials in charge of the potential expansion to the existing ODA program will present more information at the upcoming ATEC Annual Conference. 

For more information, see related story that published in the December edition of Aviation Week's InsideMRO, FAA Considers Organization Designation Authorization For Practical Testing.