The New Part 147 Is Officially Official

While the rule has been in effect for months, the FAA's Part 147 update process officially wraps up June 13 with the publication of the final rule in the Federal Register, replacing the interim final rule issued last May.

For a full run-down of the new rule, visit The New Part 147.

Bureaucratic details common to rulemaking but having no effect on the regulation's contents or industry's compliance required publication of both an interim and final version. As expected, the final rule's text is unchanged from the interim version, which was issued with an additional industry comment period. The new performance-based regulation went into effect in September 2022. The council has covered its contents and their ramifications extensively here.

Among them: transition to a new Mechanic Airman Certification Standard (ACS) as the official testing standard for the mechanic test (written, oral, and practical). This happens on Aug. 1, and is the final piece in a years-long puzzle to revamp and improve Part 147. The revised ACS ensures newly trained mechanics are better prepared for current industry technology.

Other changes that the new rule brought include the FAA, for nationally accredited programs, now deferring to Department of Education accreditors in all areas concerning quality of education. This means the FAA no longer approves curriculums, methods of instructional delivery, how and where educational content is consumed, grading systems, testing schedules, or class sizes. For a deeper dive, check out ATEC's executive summary of the bill here.