Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Agency (CASA) is looking to address the growing shortage of shortage of licensed aircraft maintenance engineers (LAMEs) with changes to the way qualifications are earned and even more interesting, announced a trial which means the holders of UK and US maintenance qualifications will be able to use those licences as a justification for the grant of an equivalent Australian licence.
Writing in the regulator’s June briefing CASA CEO and Director of Aviation Safety Pip Spence said “We’re seeing some promising growth, particularly a significant increase in the number of domestic licences issued compared to last year. By the end of May, we’d issued 326 licences, already 11% higher than last year, and seen a doubling of Part 66 modular licensing exams. This is pleasing but not enough to address the LAME shortage, particularly in rural and regional areas. We hope to add to that with our latest initiative allowing aircraft maintenance engineers from the US and UK to apply for an Australian Part 66 licence through a new recognition pathway”.
Spence went on to point out the size of the general aviation LAME talent pools in the US and UK are relatively large and could be an effective solution to ease manning shortages. While the trail is set for a year long trail Spence said the it will be reviewed at the sox month mark to see if the programme is delivering the expected improvements in manning levels especially in rural areas,
Image: ASU
