The Aviation Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Business Association (AMROBA) has put its weight behind CASA's proposal to recognise the qualifications of foreign aircraft engineers.
CASA last week opened for consultation a proposal to recognise aviation engineer qualifications issued by a formally recognised foreign state as equivalent to CASR Part 66. Initially, only the UK, Singapore and the USA would be assessed and approved.
The move is designed to tackle a critical shortage of engineers, which has the support of AMROBA Executive Director Ken Cannane.
"AMROBA proposed and supports the import of foreign LAMEs, as was available pre-CAA, especially from those nations that have adopted the EASR Part 66 licence system," he told Australian Flying this week.
"These foreign LAMEs will work in an MRO and comply with the company’s paperwork to perform maintenance and certify maintenance.
"MROs provide induction training – safety is maintained and, in many cases, enhanced knowledge and experience from these LAMEs, many with more experience than currently available, will address the retiring experience."
Although recognising foreign qualifications is expected to help with the shortage, AMROBA still believes that training home-grown engineers is the best solution, and proposes some changes to the current system that is seen as inadequate.
"Other nations training and qualifications are mostly conducted by the nation’s education system that currently exceeds the lack of the Australian NVET training courses to support each CASR Part 66 licence," Cannane says.
"For example, B1.2, 1.3 and 1.4 licences do not have dedicated VET courses. Australia’s current NVET training courses are based on supporting the airline level B1 and B2 AME licences.
"The critical shortage of LAMEs in Australia and the inability of CASA to work with the Australian Skills Qualification Authority (ASQA) to provide NVET training courses to underpin each of the Part 66 licences they introduced in 2007, has meant that the industry has a costly training system that has led to a critical shortage of LAMEs."
According to AMROBA, some of the shortage problem has been caused by the advent of CASR Part 66. Many mechanical LAMEs that were qualified under the old CAR 31 to also work on electrical, instrument and radio systems under CASR Pat 66B are now retiring from the industry.
The current Part 66 B1 licences do not have these privileges, forcing MROs to employ both a B1 mechanical and a B2 avionics engineer to do the maintenance that one person under CAR 31.
"This is adding to the costs that an MRO has to charge the operator, especially in rural Australia, and will force more private operators into RAAus."
Even though they have expressed support for the foreign recognition proposal, AMROBA believes it doesn't go far enough. CASR Part 66 was based on EASR Part 66, which should open up recognition also to European qualifications.
"We support a broader approach than currently proposed by CASA," Cannane said, "more nations need to be added to the current list.
"Without these foreign LAME, many organisations will close."