The PARTT 147 Act, legislation that rewrites Title 14 CFR part 147, is awaiting presidential signature and expected to become law before Christmas.
Introduced last December, the act reached a major milestone when it endured Senate and House committee markup and was subsequently made part of the Aviation Safety Act earlier in December. That aviation bill was ultimately rolled into the massive "CoronaBus" bill (see part 147 on page 3030 of 5593), which includes — among a host of other provisions — funding extensions and coronavirus relief.
The law will direct the FAA to remove the current part 147 and replace it with language drafted by the ATEC community. The new regulation will rely heavily on emerging airman certification standards, which will be the basis for part 147 program curriculum moving forward. The regulation also provides for "additional fixed locations" (e.g., to facilitate high school partnership programs), removes all reference to static curriculum and hour requirements, and, for federally-accredited institutions, no longer requires FAA approval of curriculum and grading systems.
"This was a monumental win for the aviation industry, and will forever change the landscape of aviation technical education," said ATEC legislative committee chair and Southern Utah University Director of Global Aviation Maintenance Training Jared Britt. "After advocating for FAA regulatory relief for over a decade, a coalition of academia, labor, and industry came together to demand change. It is amazing what we were able to accomplish."
Indeed, earlier this month a group of 23 organizations sent a letter to House committee leadership, urging committee members to retain PARTT 147 Act language adopted in the Senate Commerce Committee's aviation certification reform bill. The coalition was backed by a steadfast and bipartisan group of congressional champions including Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Rep. Don Young (R-AK), and Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL).
"Our champions worked tirelessly on our behalf. Their staffers are first-class, and we could not thank them enough for the time and effort they dedicated to the betterment of our industry over the last 18 months," said Britt. "The community is also indebted to ATEC's legislative and regulatory committee members, who worked tirelessly to draft and refine the legislative language, and to the scores that educated congressional leaders on the need for reform."
ATEC extends a special thanks to its Change Masters, the ones with the ideas that moved our community beyond its established practice and forced their ideas into visions.
A webinar is scheduled for Jan. 13 at 1 PM CT to review and discuss the new rule. Under the law, the FAA is directed to issue the new part 147 on or about April 1.
