Aviation Maintenance Technician: Where did the term come from?

By establishing a new type of aviation repair specialist certificate based on proficiency in a designated specialty area but not linked to employment, this proposal significantly reorganizes the subpart of previously proposed Part 66 applicable to aviation repair specialists.

As a result of comments received to the earlier NPRM, the proposal to specify practical experience requirements in hours for the issuance of an AMT certificate would be retained; however, the time interval in which currency requirements would be measured would continue to be stated in months. This version would also propose a mandatory recurrent training requirement for AMTs and AMTs (transport) who use their certificates for compensation or hire.

This NPRM would not propose that recurrent training consist of a minimum of 16 hours every 24 months, as stated in the previous NPRM. To afford aviation maintenance personnel greater latitude in the types of training to qualify them for the exercise of certificate privileges, this proposal would change the more restrictive term “equipment-specific training” to “appropriate training.” It would also permit training on the “tasks to be performed” to be used to qualify a person for the exercise of certificate privileges, rather than require training to be on the “equipment on which the work is to be performed.” Completion of training sufficient to permit the exercise of certificate privileges would, therefore, not need to be conducted on the identical make and model of an item on which subsequent work would be performed.

The Part 66 NPRM was put out for public comment but due to negative comments was withdrawn. Since then the aviation maintenance professional Job Task Analysis was completed. Analysis of Part 147-school curriculum has yielded many recommendations for changing the way new technicians are trained.

This article, with information directly from the Part 66 preamble, is presented as a historical perspective of how the term aviation maintenance technician came into common usage. It is not at all clear how these issues will develop in the future and whether there will be any future changes to Part 65.

Fred Workley is the president of Workley Aircraft and Maintenance Inc. in Alexandria, VA, Benton City, WA, and Indianapolis, IN. He holds an A&P certificate with an Inspection Authorization, general radio telephone license, a technician plus license, ATP, FE, CFI-I, and advance and instrument ground instructor licenses.