The House Appropriations Committee recently advanced a Transportation Housing and Urban Development bill for Fiscal Year 2020, earning them commendation from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) for including funding provisions for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The FAA would benefit from the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 included in that FY 2020 bill, which provides for $5 million for both the aviation maintenance technician development and aviation workforce development programs. An additional $241 million was offered for the FAA’s aircraft certification service, along with $1.9 million in funding for Alternative Fuels for General Aviation. GAMA hopes the latter will lead to the transition to an unleaded ‘avgas’ from a leaded fuel on piston-powered aircraft.
“We thank the Committee for fully funding important aviation safety and workforce development programs,” GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce said. “The U.S. aviation industry is facing a technician and pilot shortage that threatens to undermine the growth and competitiveness of one of the most important sectors of the nation’s economy. The initiatives funded in this bill will help ensure the industry will have the technical professionals and pilots needed to meet the growing demand for a well-trained aviation workforce.”
The news follows a letter dispatched to the committee by GAMA and 40 other aviation and aerospace organizations in March, which advocated for the affected programs.