‘Pivotal moment’: NT launches new pathway to aircraft engineer’s licence

The Territory has become the first state in Australia to fund a new aviation licensing pathway, making it easier and cheaper for apprentices to obtain an aircraft maintenance engineer licence.

A helicopter comes into land at Darwin Airport under a smoky dry season sky. Picture: Che Chorley

The Northern Territory has become the first state in Australia to fund a new aviation licensing pathway, making it easier and cheaper for apprentices to obtain an aircraft maintenance engineer licence.

The NT government will fund training with Aviation Australia for the newly introduced Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s (CASA) Part 66 Modular Licensing pathway.

Developed in alignment with the CASA modular licensing framework, the pathway provides an alternative route to obtaining a Part 66 aircraft maintenance engineer licence, with students able to gain their licence with limitations and progressively remove those limitations as they gain experience and complete the required exams.

Aviation Australia CEO Glenn Ryan. Picture: Supplied.

Chief executive of Aviation Australia Glenn Ryan compared it to driving, whereby one can obtain a licence to drive a car before they learn the skills get behind the wheel of a road train.

“The majority of aircraft in the NT fly below 10,000ft – light planes, heli-mustering, heli-tourism, that kind of thing,” he said.

“At the moment apprentices are required to be licensed to fly in a pressurised cabin, so businesses can’t take them on because they don’t have a pressurised cabin, or they are paying other people to upskill their apprentices.

“This change will benefit maintenance organisations, family businesses, small commercial businesses – areas with regional and remote, grassroots aviation.”

While the NT was the first to adopt the new modular licence, Queensland is on track to approval, and Western Australia and Victoria are in the early stages of consideration.

“This announcement is a pivotal moment for aviation training in Australia,” Mr Ryan said

“The Northern Territory government’s is the first to support the modular licensing pathway and is a clear recognition of the importance of building a skilled, local workforce and

responding to the needs of industry.”

Originally published as ‘Pivotal moment’: NT launches new pathway to aircraft engineer’s licence