Over three dozen organisations representing a cross section of the aviation industry are urging the Trump administration to prioritise aerospace workforce development in the president’s 2020 budget.
According to AviationPros, the coalition of 40 associations and unions urged the administration to seek full funding for the aviation technician and pilot recruitment and education programs created by Sec. 625 of last year’s Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization law. This was sent in the form of a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney on 5th Feb.
The coalition (consisting of organisations representing airlines, maintainers manufacturers, general aviation, airports, mechanics, pilots and communities with aviation sectors) cited numerous studies echoing a concerning shortage of pilots and aviation technical workers to support maintenance. Boeing, were used an example, projecting that in North America alone, 2016,000 new pilots and 189,000 new technicians will be needed over the next two decades. The shortage of pilots and technicians could undermine the growth and competitiveness of one of the most important sectors of the U.S economy, the letter claimed.
The organisations requested Congress appropriate the full $5 million authorised for each of the two new grant programs, designed to facilitate collaboration between schools, state and local government entities, businesses and labour organisations, in an effort to attract and educate technicians and pilots.
Under the new law, aviation technical workforce grants could be used for scholarships, apprenticeships, establishing new training programs, purchasing equipment for schools and supporting career transition for members of the armed forces. The new grant program for pilot education would support the creation and delivery of curriculum designed to provide high school students with meaningful science, technology, engineering, math and aviation education.
