Aircraft Maintenance Technology

JAN-FEB 2018

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INDUSTRY OUTLOOK 14 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY hile it comes as no surprise that the aviation main- tenance industry is facing a looming shortage of qualified technicians, the question that remains up for debate is how to close that gap. Data recently released by the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) found that new entrants make up 2 percent of the AMT population annually, while 30 percent of the workforce is at or near retire- ment age. That's not a very encouraging statistic, especially compared to Boeing's 2016 forecast that 679,000 new commercial airline maintenance techni- cians will be needed globally by 2035. Although there doesn't seem to be any quick- fix to the issue, some believe the industry suffers from a public relations problem, and that it needs to reinvent its image to appeal to a wider audi- ence. Select teams and organizations participating in the Aerospace Maintenance Competition (AMC) Presented by Snap-on, weighed-in on what can be done to better position the industry as an attractive career choice. Crystal Maguire, executive director, ATEC (www.atec-amt.org) , thinks the key is reaching people when they're young … very young. TWO-PRONGED APPROACH Maguire believes the key to building more interest in aviation maintenance is through better training, and developing alliances between industry and schools. Maguire says ATEC, whose mission is to promote and support aviation maintenance technical educa- tion, has been working alongside schools and the industry to update areas of the FAA's Part 147 cur- riculum requirements to more accurately reflect the minimum certification standards that enable graduat- ing students to be more proficient on the job. These suggested updates include additional training on WANTED: SKILLED TECHNICIANS FOR REWARDING CAREER IN AVIATION MAINTENANCE By Steve Staedler

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