Project Bootstrap Aviation Standards Group
NBAA’s Maintenance Committee recently launched a new “Project Bootstrap” connected committee after a very successful Maintenance Managers Committee meeting held in Daytona, Florida last April, 2008.
The Maintenance Committee has received international support for the Bootstrap Program. Serving the worldwide body of diverse aviation technicians in many different sectors outside business aviation it becomes necessary to devote a body to serve a coherent focus for that community. Any standard that the MC develops that rises to multi-sector international prominence will be managed this new group called ASG or Aviation Standards Group.
Regarding the Bootstrap Program, the function of the group is twofold and it will be managed by two Co-Chairs. Its primary mission will be the fulfillment of the Bootstrap Program, producing aviation maintenance professionals in a higher certificated category with extended FAA privileges called AMTE (Aviation Maintenance Technical Engineers). It is an estimate by the committee that there are approximately 7,000 potential AMTE candidates in existence at this time. Relative to the work already completed it is another estimate by the committee to produce the first AMTE in the year 2010. It is a stretch to predict the extension of advanced privileges by the FAA since this is a legislative process.
ASG Structure
First a twelve member volunteer architectural group reporting to a co-chair will assemble the architecture from select standards providers already vetted by industry and establish the standards criteria for climbing up to the full potential of Project Bootstraps AMTE (Aviation Maintenance Technical Engineer) level. These standards will evolve with industry at the same pace that new technology is incorporated solving an age old problem that governmental bureaucracies cannot respond to, contemporary education curriculum. This architecture will also be reviewed and approved by the NBAA MC Training Advanced Education subcommittee. The standards are created in three categories, academic, experience and recurrence. The recurrence element was introduced to harmonize with ICAO.
Secondly and more profoundly a second twelve member volunteer expereince review peer group reporting to a second co-chair will become the gateway to certification for thousands of AMTEs looking to ascend the vertical professional ladder. These applicants will have their experience resumes reviewed in a dissertation format much like a college Masters Degree program.
ASG Progress to Date
At present the first phase of the architecture standards group is fifty percent complete. Since the Bootstrap program inception NCATT (National Center for Aviation Technician Training) has been the model for certifying Avionics Technicians, they alone years ago helped us build the stair-steps to Master Avionics Technician. There is a base level of NCATT certification called the AET. There are currently over 500 certified AET technicians. For some technicians there are pathways that could be completed because of their advance educational training already accomplished. Their perception of the program in place today would be one hundred percent complete. We will also give credit to PAMA/SAE’s nascent certification efforts for A&Ps where it could logically fit the advanced educational portion of Project Bootstrap. Many other standards providers are under consideration at this time. Flight Safety is working on advancing their Master technician program and other institutions like Kansas State and more than a dozen 147 A&P/Avionics combined programs are busy building standards for combined educational programs. Together they provide unique and holistic industry support.
The first phase of the experience review group is under development and is completely independent from any other institution. As previously mentioned the process to become an AMTE has three requirement categories. First is the academic or testing phase described above, the second is proof of experience phase and the third is recurrence. The future AMTE will bring his/her database of experience before the twelve member group and prove their ten years in any combination of category, avionics or A&P. The AMTE Bootstrap fellow must show the ASG group their proof of re-current training matching ICAO and EASA standards. Together these objective and subjective standards will produce the Masters degree of Aviation technician quite capable of handling all the complex issues the future will bring.
ASG will present a changing body of knowledge reflective of where the industry guides it producing AMTE’s that not only keep pace with their chosen avocation but help guide the future of their profession.
