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Wednesday, 18 November, 2020

NATA Executive Legislative Briefing - November 18, 2020

November 18, 2020

Dear Aviation Business Professional:


This week, the United States Government Accountability Office  released a study on the workforce and training needs of the FAA’s Office of Aviation Safety. A provision for this study was included in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. The report concludes that the FAA should take additional actions to ensure its workforce has the needed skills to keep pace with emerging technologies and looming retirements.

In October 2020, the FAA assigned the Safety Oversight and Certification Advisory Committee (SOCAC), of which NATA is an active member, a task to examine and make recommendations on preparing the FAA and assisting the industry in planning for future personnel knowledge and skill needs. FAA also asked the Committee to identify opportunities for the mutual exchange of knowledge, experience, and skills between these groups. Key principles for effective strategic workforce planning state that agencies can benefit from assessing the extent to which employees possess critical competencies needed for mission success. Assessing whether employees have such competencies on a recurring basis can help agencies ensure that they obtain a workforce with the necessary skills to achieve organizational goals, according to Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government.

NATA believes the GAO report provides a solid roadmap for accomplishing the FAA’s goals to bolster the training and hiring practices the FAA has started to put in place.

The GAO report addresses the following:

(1) assesses competency gaps in the agency’s inspector and engineer workforces and (2) ensures its training program provides these workforces with needed competencies.

The GAO recommends that organization-wide gaps in critical competencies should be identified on a recurring basis and these gaps should be addressed through hiring and training practices, allowing the FAA to adjust their workforce to the current environment. Additionally, it is recommended that recurring assessments of training curricula for inspectors and engineers should take place to ensure training efficacy and competencies to achieve the agency’s goals.

The U.S. Department of Transportation formed the SOCAC to advise the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, through the FAA Administrator, on policy-level issues facing the aviation community that are related to FAA safety oversight and certification programs and activities. “This training report outlines areas that both the FAA and NATA support in streamlining and leveraging technical expertise in continuous improvement of data analytics and risk-based safety training and hiring practices. NATA is pleased to contribute as a participant on the FAA SOCAC Training Committee in making recommendations that address the needs of the industry and ensure the FAA personnel have the required training,” stated NATA’s Senior Advisor and SOCAC Committee liaison Keith DeBerry.


NATA realizes an effective SMS supports risk-based decision making and has worked to create resources and certificate programs, including the new Air Transport Safety Management course to assist in preparing the industry for the widespread move to the risk-based approach. As our industry continues to embrace and implement Safety Management Systems (SMS), which is a more formal method to manage safety, SMS will continue to evolve, enabling it to leverage information systems and resources in support of risk-based decision making.

For general press inquiries, contact Shannon Chambers at 703-298-1347 or schambers@nata.aero

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has been the voice of aviation business for more than 80 years. Representing nearly 3,700 aviation businesses, NATA’s member companies provide a broad range of services to general aviation, the airlines and the military and NATA serves as the public policy group representing the interests of aviation businesses before Congress and the federal agencies.