December 7, 2011 - U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety and Security, called on key agencies to streamline the process qualifying veterans’ face when obtaining the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification needed to work on civilian aircraft. 

The demand for airplane mechanics emerged as a key theme during a series of aerospace job skills events that Cantwell held in October in Seattle, Spokane and Vancouver. In a letter sent today to the heads of the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, and the FAA, Cantwell outlined the need to reduce the obstacles veterans face when seeking to apply their military aerospace experience to the growing civilian aerospace industry. 

“Washington state is home to Joint Base Lewis McChord, Fairchild Air Force Base, and to more than 600,000 veterans,” Cantwell wrote in the letter sent today to the three agencies. “We should act now to help returning veterans get jobs and maintain the competitiveness of America's aerospace industry.  

“To ease this transition, I am requesting that over the next 60 days your three agencies work together to identify those actions that will facilitate active duty, reservists, and veterans in obtaining their A&P licenses from the FAA in a more efficient and timely way, and report back to the Senate Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety and Security. I see this as a win-win. It creates a great opportunity for Washington state’s veterans and our growing aerospace industry.”

Currently, veterans face difficulties in utilizing aerospace related skills learned in the military in obtaining certifications and licensing for civilian aerospace repair jobs. At a Senate Aviation Subcommittee field hearing Cantwell chaired in October, Washington aerospace leaders explained that aerospace companies seek workers trained in Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) on civilian aircraft.  

Individuals who obtain the FAA’s Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) licenses can find it easier to land jobs at companies performing MRO services. In the letter sent today, Cantwell urged the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration to coordinate an effort with the FAA to help veterans with A&P related skills from military service achieve faster certification for work in civil aviation. 

Washington, and the nation, needs more skilled aerospace workers due to a “perfect storm” of increased demand, impending retirements and new technology. A recent report from the Accenture/Washington Aerospace Partnership calls for an increase in efforts to get veterans trained for the civilian aviation workforce.

The Washington State Council on Aerospace estimated that 21,000 new aerospace workers are needed in Washington over the next decade. Boeing’s 20-year forecast found that the world’s airlines need to add 460,000 pilots and 650,000 maintenance technicians in the next two decades. Of this total, North America is projected to need 82,800 pilots and 134,800 maintenance personnel. 

Cantwell wrote: “Veterans who have spent years maintaining military aircraft may spend time and money taking classes to learn skills they have already mastered simply because current FARs [Federal Aviation Regulations] (Part 147) conflict with other agency guidance. We need to modify existing FAA regulations to make it quicker, easier, and less expensive for veterans to obtain critical FAA certifications.” 

On October 28th, Cantwell joined Spokane Community College (SCC) to announce a new veterans outreach program to connect veterans with jobs in Washington state. The program started at SCC will eventually be implemented at all 34 community and technical colleges to help connect veterans with aerospace jobs. SCC will hire a veterans coordinator by the end of 2011 who will work to standardize the process for awarding community college credit to veterans for military experience to help get them through aerospace training faster and into aerospace employment sooner. 

On Monday, October 24th, Cantwell held a U.S. Aviation Subcommittee field hearing in Seattle on closing the aerospace job skills gap. Witness testimony is available here. Aviation leaders from across the state of Washington testified about strategies to develop a skilled aviation workforce and meet the needs of a rapidly growing industry. 

Cantwell has long fought to make Washington state a 21st century hub for the commercial aviation industry. In February 2011, Cantwell played a key role in shepherding the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill through the Senate, which invests in 21st century technology for air travel, creating high-tech aviation jobs and improving efficiency for travel and trade.

The FAA reauthorization bill would convert the nation’s air traffic control system from the outdated, less efficient ground-based system to a more efficient satellite-based system. The GPS-based system, called NextGen, will allow aircraft to move more precisely into and out of airports, improving air safety and reducing flight delays that cost the nation’s economy billions of dollars each year. 

In 2003, the Senate passed Cantwell’s amendment to the ‘Vision 100’ FAA reauthorization bill creating the FAA’s first advanced materials research center of excellence. She successfully fought to have the new center based at the University of Washington. The Center for Excellence for Advanced Materials for Transportation Aviation Structures (AMTAS) leads the industry’s research of advanced aviation materials, such as composites and aluminum alloys, for use in civilian transport aircraft. Research conducted by AMTAS students and scientists helped prove to the FAA that use of structural composite materials in aircrafts is safe. Boeing incorporated ATMAS’ findings into many of the new 787s’ systems.