Despite our inability to bring the community together in person, the council’s advocacy efforts over the last year yielded remarkable results—the crowning achievement coming in the last few days of 2020 with the inclusion of part 147 reform mandates in the Consolidated Appropriations Act.
The new law requires the FAA to replace long-outdated aviation technical program regulations with a community-drafted, performance-based regulation that will provide opportunity for widespread innovations in aviation technical education.
This coming year, the community is setting its sights on initiatives that will ensure a smooth transition to the new regulatory framework, take advantage of emerging opportunities, and address additional choke points in the workforce pipeline. In the coming year the council will:
- Insist on FAA adherence to part 147 reform mandates. After decades of waiting on regulators to update the regulation governing aviation technical programs, a congressional mandate will overhaul the long-outdated rule and allow aviation technical programs to better prepare students for the current job market. The council will engage with regulators and congressional leaders to ensure timely and accurate implementation of the interim final regulation by the March 27, 2021 deadline, support regulators through development of proposed guidance, and educate the community through resources and online events.
- Support swift publication of FAA airman certification standards (ACS). A decade ago, an FAA-industry working group came together to develop a better way to qualify the skill and knowledge needed from the next generation of aviators. The effort was recently brought to an abrupt halt when the agency ceased publishing ACS after reinterpreting its regulatory responsibilities. Since then, the backlog of unpublished ACS grows while industry anxiously awaits revised standards. The council will encourage the new administration to get the initiative back on track so that the training community can implement much needed reforms to support today’s modern aviation system.
- Support a skilled and dynamic aviation workforce through grant program funding. The COVID-19 pandemic devastated the aviation industry—targeted federal support of workforce programs will be a critical piece of its recovery. The council encourages Congress to provide sorely needed resources through the continued funding of the aviation workforce development grant program, and to explore additional opportunities to invest in aviation career pathway development, including expansion of K-12 programs.
- Oppose threats to private, tax paying educational institutions. ATEC opposes legislation that limits proprietary aviation technical schools from serving students and veterans. Bills masked rhetorically as student protection aid often times threaten a vital source of aviation maintenance technical personnel and negatively impact aerospace companies looking to hire FAA-certificated mechanics and other aviation technical personnel.
- Implement initiatives that will expedite service member transition into civil aviation careers. Industry is in need of a clear and efficient process to translate military experience to competencies required for FAA mechanic certification. 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 will work with government officials to identify ways to better serve our service men and women while creating a vital pipeline to meet industry labor demands.
- Expand access to FAA airman testing. Thirty percent of aviation technician school graduates do not take the exam necessary to receive FAA mechanic certification—access to testing examiners was identified as one of the top barriers for students seeking a certificate. The council will continue its call for expansion of the FAA’s Organization Designation Authorization program to include examiner delegations which would allow schools to manage FAA testing delegates and meet student demand.
- Create general aviation curriculum for deployment in high schools. ATEC's sister organization, Choose Aerospace, is in the final stages of selecting partners for its ambitious curriculum development project. The initiative is in support of one of the organization’s key objectives: to expand aviation career and technical training and associated career pathways. The curriculum will be pilot tested this fall, and is expected to be available for wide dissemination in early 2022.
