GAO Reports is urging the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to create an expert group to examine whether students completing aviation maintenance programs at uncertificated high schools should be permitted to take the agency’s general written knowledge test. The recommendation comes as the report cites an estimated 11,300 annual openings for aircraft mechanics through 2034 and says younger workers could help meet that need. The test is generally the first of several FAA examinations required to become an FAA-certificated aircraft mechanic, according to the report.
At least 43 high schools offer aviation maintenance programs without FAA certification, while 11 FAA-certificated schools are high schools and 43 other certificated institutions serve high school students. Graduates of the uncertificated programs cannot currently take the general knowledge test unless they obtain the required work experience or further education, the report says. Stakeholders told GAO that this restriction can create an additional cost for students who would need to take courses at a certificated school after completing an uncertificated program.
The report also identifies limited student awareness of aircraft maintenance careers as a barrier and points to internships with aviation industry partners as one possible way to improve awareness. GAO said school representatives had limited information about graduates’ career outcomes, but described paths that included additional training and enrollment in 4-year colleges. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 directed the FAA to use the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee to establish the Airman Knowledge Testing Working Group by May 2025 to consider the testing question.
The FAA had not established that working group or obtained the assessment described in the law, according to the report. FAA officials said they were unable to proceed after the Department of Transportation terminated members of the advisory committee under an executive order covering committees considered unnecessary. GAO said an assessment by aviation experts and industry stakeholders could weigh the advantages and disadvantages of expanding test eligibility and consider whether the change could help with future workforce demand.
The report says GAO analyzed FAA data, reviewed published research and interviewed representatives of 12 certificated or uncertificated schools selected for different school types and geographic areas. The report recommends that the FAA Administrator establish the expert group, and says the agency’s department concurred with the recommendation. GAO said it will provide an update after confirming what action the agency has taken.