Designated Mechanic Examiner Tackles FAA Testing Barriers

The testing process to become an FAA-certificated airframe and powerplant technician in the U.S. can often be an expensive, time-consuming and confusing experience.

Depending on their location and resources, aspiring technicians can face barriers such as high testing costs, delays in securing testing slots and a shortage of approved designated maintenance examiners (DME) to administer oral and practical examinations. A new business is now aiming to expand testing capacity and help test applicants navigate the complicated process.

Jesse Hauch, who became a DME in February 2024, initially launched FAA-DME.com as a website to simplify scheduling and payment for airframe and powerplant (A&P) test takers who utilized his DME services. After seeing bottlenecks in the A&P certification process firsthand, he expanded the services to include exam prep resources and consulting for prospective testers and schools.

“I’ve seen firsthand how the shortage of available DMEs can delay graduates from entering the workforce, especially in underserved regions,” Hauch tells Aviation Week Network. For instance, Hauch is Delaware’s only DME, and in some regions of the U.S., DMEs are juggling hundreds of prospective testers or students must travel many hours to find a slot with one. Hauch says finding a DME can already be a confusing and frustrating process, and “once folks do find a DME, a lot of them get discouraged because of how far away they are” and how many months those DMEs may be booked out.

Hauch says this can become even more intimidating because changes to the FAA Airmen Certification Standards (ACS) have led to an average oral and practical examination taking around 16 hr. over two days, “so it takes a lot of fortitude to get through all of them once you have the necessary training and experience.”

Some of the services Hauch is offering through FAA-DME.com include prescheduling interviews with test takers to answer questions such as the correct paperwork required to take the tests, the costs involved in renting testing facilities and procuring testing equipment—which typically get passed on to test takers—and how testing standards have changed since the FAA passed the new ACS in late 2022. He has also started offering a testing prep course.

“What I’ve heard from my applicants is the [FAA] written examination and the commercially available test preparation books and software are maybe 60% accurate these days, and that’s a big barrier because they go through and try to prepare for the exam the way previous generations have, and now they’re not as successful,” says Hauch. “Not having a good, robust resource for study material is really making that difficult.”

Hauch is also collaborating with schools to streamline access to exams. He recently worked with the Polytech School of Aviation Maintenance to help it become an FAA-approved DME testing site.

Located in Dover, Delaware, the school is within a 2-hr. drive from major east coast cities like Newark, Philadelphia and Washington, “so a huge swath of the mid-Atlantic region within just a couple hours’ drive now has DME accessibility,” he says.

“I think the overarching goal with the website is an awareness piece,” says Hauch, adding that it seems some large aviation companies do not fully understand what technicians must go through to become licensed. “Just like a nurse, doctor or lawyer, the recertification work we have to go through as an aircraft mechanic is a lot and it’s not inexpensive.”

Hauch says he wants aviation company decision makers, such as employees in finance and human resource roles, to understand, “This young person who you want to hire as a mechanic probably just spent $65,000-70,000, not all of which is student loanable, to enter this career. So, they’re going to be a good technician, but everybody needs help on the front end to help perpetuate the industry.”