American aviation is in good shape now, but action is needed to head off a shortage of workers in many high-paying aviation jobs, witnesses told a U.S. Senate committee on March 16.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), herself a pilot, warned about the consequences of failing to act.
“Without a properly trained, equipped, and compensated workforce, the safety of the flying public will be put at risk,” she said during the hearing in Washington. “And the delays we’ve experienced over the past few years will seem mild by comparison.”
Duckworth suggested that Congress consider devoting $100 million annually to aviation-workforce-development grants, a tenfold increase. That investment would pay off, witnesses told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation.
The committee’s hearing on “Strengthening the Aviation Workforce” is part of its work to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration’s funding and operations for the next five years.Cooperation among government, industry, and education leaders is essential to address the looming “talent crisis” in aviation, said Rebecca Lutte, distinguished professor at the University of Nebraska’s Aviation Institute.
