Workplace - Personnel Shortage Worries BBGA

In a presentation to the Royal Aeronautical Society in London in April entitled GA Maintenance under EASA, Mark Wilson, chief executive of the British Business and General Aviation Association, opined that dealings between the U.K. body and the new European Safety Agency appeared generally to be working well and the BBGA’s feeling was one of confidence in the future. The Safety Standards Consultative Committee had developed revised terms of reference and an ad hoc working group was in place for the development of Part M of Part 145 for maintenance of non-commercial aircraft.

On the other hand, Part M was felt to be too close to Part 145, the cost of total compliance with future regulations was a worry, and there were fears that the regulatory judgement of the U.K. might be lost, Wilson suggested. There were many unknowns, not the least of which was the nature of fees to be paid under Part M, in regard to compliance costs. The introduction of certain regulations, as worthy as they may be, could produce the need for more regulators, whose costs would have to be passed on and might produce an unfair burden on the BBGA fraternity.

General aviation continues to have a problem in training maintenance staff, as would-be personnel did not have access to the facilities and courses open to the airlines and larger companies, and this matter needs attention where EASA is concerned. There is a difficulty in enabling people to follow their chosen career path because of the high costs to individuals or their companies. The shortage of trained maintenance staff in general aviation is a real worry for the future.

Mark Wilson told Aviation Maintenance that he could not put a suggested figure on the number of maintenance people required for U.K. general and business aviation during the next 10 years, but it was certainly expected to exceed the 6,000 currently employed in this sector because the business is growing appreciably every year. Currently there are 5,050 BBGA aircraft on the U.K. register, recording more than 1.67 million hours flown annually and carrying more than 3,550,000 passengers. Of these aircraft, 250 were corporate, 400 air taxis, and 600 private helicopters. The value to the U.K. economy annually was put at some £2.45 billion ($4.7 billion). In total, the BBGA sector employs some 13,000 people.