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Sen. Cantwell Calls
For Plan To Help Vets Get FAA Certification For Aerospace Jobs By Steve Hall |
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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.” |
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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. |
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