Industry is being forced to navigate around a government-wide purging of advisory committees that play key roles in rulemaking to keep Congressionally mandated FAA workforce development initiatives on track.
The FAA is developing a pathway for military-trained mechanics to transition to civilian jobs. Section 426 of the 2024 FAA reauthorization bill calls on the FAA to issue “a written competency test,” or mil-comp, “that addresses gaps between military and civilian experience” and a new airman certification standard that qualifies military-trained airframe and powerplant mechanics for civil work.
The law gives the FAA 18 months—or until late November—to issue its proposed rule and urges the FAA to solicit input from the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee (ARAC)- Airman Certification System (ACS) working group. But the ACS members, like those on the ARAC, were terminated earlier this year as part of a broader Trump Administration initiative to re-staff Federal Advisory Committees.
The committees will be re-staffed once the ARAC is reconstituted, and former members who receive termination letters can re-apply. But the ARAC staffing process has just begun. The FAA on Sept. 19 sent out a notice seeking ARAC nominees by Oct. 20.
Industry stakeholders are working behind the scenes to develop plausible processes that would meet the rule’s intent. Several involved told Aviation Week they expect to be part of soon-to-be-restaffed ARAC working groups.
But even with these head starts, finalizing new requirements seemingly hinges on the ARACs.
“On the mil-comp side, we definitely want to hear back from the ARAC,” FAA Airmen Section Manager, Airman and Special Programs Group Kevin Morgan told Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) attendees at the group’s annual legislative gathering Sept. 17.
Another mandate from the 2024 bill is caught in a similar bind. Section 405 orders the FAA to study whether high school students that complete a recognized maintenance curriculum could take a general knowledge exam and, if they pass, earn some type of limited certificate, similar to a student pilot.
Such a pathway would address several issues. One is an acknowledged fear of testing and related incompletion rate under the current requirement to complete all course work before any testing. Another is creating pathways for students with verified general knowledge to make smoother transitions to airframe and powerplant (A&P) schools or apprenticeships.
But the law calls on the FAA to task an ARAC working group with examining the issue and developing recommendations. The working group was supposed to be in place by May 16—one year after the bill’s passage—and its report is due in November 2026.
“FAA’s termination of industry committee appointments has stalled ACS progress and delayed other congressional mandates,” ATEC said in a legislative day primer distributed to attendees. “ATEC urges Congress to press [the U.S. Transportation Department] to promptly reappoint members to keep reforms on track.”
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