In February 2020, the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) founded Choose Aerospace, a non-profit organization with a mission of promoting aviation technical careers. The charity’s board of directors — including education, MRO, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), labor and airline representatives — set out to identify and implement creative solutions to meet the growing need for aviation technical personnel. Its first and lofty goal is to deploy aviation maintenance technical curriculum in high schools across the U.S.
The initiative was born out of a growing and concerning trend. While demand for technical personnel is on the rise, enrollment at part 147 aviation maintenance technician schools (AMTS) in the U.S. is nearly stagnant. Enrollment grew by only 2 percent in 2019 — a five-year high — with two out of every five airframe and powerplant (A&P) program seats remaining empty. Assuming flat enrollment growth, ATEC estimates that new mechanic output will need to increase nearly 40 percent to meet the projected 20-year demand.
ATEC survey data suggests that high school AMTS partnerships are one of the most lucrative channels for student recruitment, but they are sorely underutilized nationally. FAA regulations limiting an A&P school’s ability to bring content to the high school is the biggest barrier to dual enrollment programs, the other being the cost associated with equipment, teachers and curriculum development.
A coalition of stakeholders, through Choose Aerospace, is facing the challenge head on. A host of partners and advisors, including representatives from the FAA, airlines, labor, repair stations, community colleges and universities, are coming together to build curriculum that can be easily adopted in a high school setting.
The Choose Aerospace curriculum will align with emerging FAA Mechanic Airman Certification Standards to cover the general knowledge, risk management and skill required for mechanic certification. It will facilitate a hybrid approach, combining traditional delivery methods — classroom, hard copy textbook and in-person labs — with e-learning methods, such as video lecture, e-book, virtual and augmented reality simulations and exercises, using a nationally deployable e-learning platform. The “out of the box” package will include all the teaching content a school needs to get a technical program off the ground, with very little equipment required.
ATEC intends to engage its network of FAA-certificated aviation maintenance schools so that high school students that take the curriculum will have the opportunity to transfer credit earned to postsecondary schools across the U.S. The organization will also work with employers to create and communicate direct-to-employment opportunities for students that choose to pursue careers as a non-certificated technician, or certification through experience.
Through engagement with school districts, urban advocacy organizations, vocational training programs and trade associations representing underrepresented talent, the team will also focus on deploying curriculum in underserved communities to increase awareness and diversify the aviation maintenance workforce population.
Coalition leaders are also seeking regulatory relief from FAA policies that limit the opportunity for individuals to take the mechanic general written test independent of enrollment at an aviation maintenance technical school (AMTS) or relevant employment history. The goal is to give would-be aviation mechanics the opportunity to take the general written test earlier in their training cycle — mirroring the opportunities available to pilot candidates that finish the ground training — and transform these high school programs into true career pathways.
Choose Aerospace is currently soliciting high schools that would like to participate in its pilot test during the 2021-2022 academic year. The goal is for the content to be widely available for adoption in the fall of 2022. For more information visit chooseaerospace.org/curriculum.
Crystal MaGuire is the executive director of the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC).
