WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), introduced a bill this week to improve education and training programs at aviation maintenance technician schools. The Promoting Aviation Regulations for Technical Training (PARTT) 147 Act of 2019 would establish performance-based regulations to ensure aviation maintenance education institutions have the flexibility to teach core curriculum reflective of the ongoing technical advances and innovation happening across the aviation and aerospace industry. U.S. Representatives Don Young (R-Alaska) and Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) introduced the companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

“This legislation updates 50 year old regulations and ensures aviation maintenance education institutions are teaching the latest technologies. This is especially important for the emerging aerospace industry in West Virginia. Our state is home to industry leaders such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney, Bombardier, and dozens of others that all need a skilled manufacturing workforce. I’m proud to join my colleague, Senator Inhofe on this legislation and I am confident that this bill will go a long way in improving the training programs at maintenance technician schools,” Senator Capito said.

“We are pleased to see Senator Capito join her colleagues in supporting the Promoting Aviation Regulations for Technical Training (PART 147) Act,” Marshall University President Jerome A. Gilbert said. “This bill is a big step forward in modernizing regulations that govern aviation maintenance education. Marshall University applauds Senator Capito for her hard work on behalf of West Virginia.”

Full text of the bill can be found here. A number of stakeholders wrote a letter of support for The PARTT 147 Act of 2019, which can be viewed here.

WEST VIRGINIA IMPACT: 

  • This bill would benefit aviation maintenance certification curriculum, like the ones used at Pierpont University and Marshall University.
  • In March of this year, Marshall and Southern Utah University (SUU) signed a memorandum of agreement to cooperate in exploring options to jointly offer a four-year bachelor’s degree in aviation. The two universities would work together developing a possible curriculum that could be delivered at Marshall’s South Charleston campus and at Yeager Airport.
  • In July, Marshall University’s Board of Governors approved new aviation degree programs. Marshall’s new School of Aviation will offer a Bachelor of Science in aviation sciences, fixed-wing, and a Bachelor of Science in aviation, rotor-wing (helicopters). Under the partnership with SUU, both schools will receive benefits. Marshall will share SUU’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification and SUU will consult with Marshall on academic matters. Both schools will participate in national recruitment efforts.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

  • FAA regulations dictate what educational institutions teach aspiring aviation maintenance mechanics. These curriculum requirements, however, have not been updated in over fifty years.
  • The Promoting Aviation Regulations for Technical Training (PARTT) 147 Act of 2019 would direct FAA to promulgate a new part 147 that would establish the requirements for operating an aviation maintenance technician school certificated by FAA and the general operating rules for those holding that certificate. The bill would not change the requirement that entities operating an aviation maintenance technician school must hold an FAA certificate.
  • The outdated curriculum and necessary retraining upon entry into the workforce should not become a contributing factor to the looming shortage of aviation maintenance technicians that threatens to undermine the growth and competitiveness of one of the most important sectors in our economy.

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