" Maintaining a safe and robust aviation system requires qualified aviation professionals-including aerospace engineers, aircraft mechanics, and avionics technicians-to design, manufacture, and repair more than 225,000 aircraft. Aviation stakeholders have expressed concerns that an insufficient supply of personnel could develop because of imminent retirements and a perception that fewer people enter these professions. GAO was asked to review the supply and demand of aviation professionals. This report discusses (1) what available data and forecasts reveal about the need for and potential availability of aerospace engineers, aircraft mechanics, and avionics technicians, and (2) what actions industry and the federal government are taking to help attract and retain these professionals. GAO (1) collected and analyzed data from 2000 through 2012, employment projections from 2012 through 2022, and literature relevant to the aviation professionals' labor markets; (2) reviewed agency documents; and (3) interviewed agency officials about programs that support training. GAO also interviewed 10 aviation industry associations (5 representing employees and 5 representing employers) and selected a non-generalizable sample of 23 private sector employers, based on size and location, to understand any actions used to attract their workforce.
This book provides an in-depth analysis of human failure and its various forms and root causes. The analysis is developed through real aviation accidents and incidents and the deriving lessons learned. Features: Employs accumulated experience, and the scientific and research point of view, and recorded aviation accidents and incidents from the daily working environment Provides lessons learned and integrates the existing regulations into the human factors discipline Highlights the responsibility concerns and raises the accountability issues deriving from the engineers’ profession by concisely distinguishing human failure types Suggests a new approach in human factors training in order to meet current and future challenges imposed on aviation maintenance Offers a holistic approach in human factors aircraft maintenance Human Factors in Aircraft Maintenance is comprehensive, easy to read, and can be used as both a training and a reference guide for operators, regulators, auditors, researchers, academics, and aviation enthusiasts. It presents the opportunity for aircraft engineers, aviation safety officers, and psychologists to rethink their current training programs and examine the pros and cons of employing this new approach.
This book gathers papers presented at the 36th conference and 30th Symposium of the International Committee on Aeronautical Fatigue and Structural integrity. Focusing on the main theme of “Structural Integrity in the Age of Additive Manufacturing”, the chapters cover different aspects concerning research, developments and challenges in this field, offering a timely reference guide to designers, regulators, manufacturer, and both researchers and professionals of the broad aerospace community.
"Scholars, government officials, students and corporate and union representatives concerned with employment, labor and training policies and issues will find the data and analysis in this book a valuable addition to their knowledge."--BOOK JACKET.
Within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Airway Transportation System Specialists ATSS) maintain and certify the equipment in the National Airspace System (NAS).In fiscal year 2012, Technical Operations had a budget of $1.7B. Thus, Technical Operations includes approximately 19 percent of the total FAA employees and less than 12 percent of the $15.9 billion total FAA budget. Technical Operations comprises ATSS workers at five different types of Air Traffic Control (ATC) facilities: (1) Air Route Traffic Control Centers, also known as En Route Centers, track aircraft once they travel beyond the terminal airspace and reach cruising altitude; they include Service Operations Centers that coordinate work and monitor equipment. (2) Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities control air traffic as aircraft ascend from and descend to airports, generally covering a radius of about 40 miles around the primary airport; a TRACON facility also includes a Service Operations Center. (3) Core Airports, also called Operational Evolution Partnership airports, are the nation's busiest airports. (4) The General National Airspace System (GNAS) includes the facilities located outside the larger airport locations, including rural airports and equipment not based at any airport. (5) Operations Control Centers are the facilities that coordinate maintenance work and monitor equipment for a Service Area in the United States. At each facility, the ATSS execute both tasks that are scheduled and predictable and tasks that are stochastic and unpredictable in. These tasks are common across the five ATSS disciplines: (1) Communications, maintaining the systems that allow air traffic controllers and pilots to be in contact throughout the flight; (2) Surveillance and Radar, maintaining the systems that allow air traffic controllers to see the specific locations of all the aircraft in the airspace they are monitoring; (3) Automation, maintaining the systems that allow air traffic controllers to track each aircraft's current and future position, speed, and altitude; (4) Navigation, maintaining the systems that allow pilots to take off, maintain their course, approach, and land their aircraft; and (5) Environmental, maintaining the power, lighting, and heating/air conditioning systems at the ATC facilities. Because the NAS needs to be available and reliable all the time, each of the different equipment systems includes redundancy so an outage can be fixed without disrupting the NAS. Assessment of Staffing Needs of Systems Specialists in Aviation reviews the available information on: (A) the duties of employees in job series 2101 (Airways Transportation Systems Specialist) in the Technical Operations service unit; (B) the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS) union of the AFL-CIO; (C) the present-day staffing models employed by the FAA; (D) any materials already produced by the FAA including a recent gap analysis on staffing requirements; (E) current research on best staffing models for safety; and (F) non-US staffing standards for employees in similar roles.
Airworthiness, as a field, encompasses the technical and non-technical activities required to design, certify, produce, maintain, and safely operate an aircraft throughout its lifespan. The evolving technology, science, and engineering methods and, most importantly, aviation regulation, offer new opportunities and create, new challenges for the aviation industry. This book assembles review and research articles across a variety of topics in the field of airworthiness: aircraft maintenance, safety management, human factors, cost analysis, structures, risk assessment, unmanned aerial vehicles and regulations. This selection of papers informs the industry practitioners and researchers on important issues.
World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolution, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wearable sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manufacturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individuals. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frameworks that advance progress.
Fully updated and expanded, the second edition of Human Factors in Aviation serves the needs of the widespread aviation community - students, engineers, scientists, pilots, managers and government personnel. Offering a comprehensive overview the volume covers topics such as pilot performance, human factors in aircraft design, vehicles and systems and NextGen issues. The need for an up-to-date, scienti?cally rigorous overview is underscored by the frequency with which human factors/crew error cause aviation accidents, pervasiveness of human error in safety breakdowns. Technical and communication advances, diminishing airspace and the priority of aviation safety all contribute to the generation of new human factors problems and the more extensive range of solutions. Now more than ever a solid foundation from which to begin addressing these issues is needed. - New edition thoroughly updated with 50% new material, offering full coverage of NexGen and other modern issues - Liberal use of case examples exposes students to real-world examples of dangers and solutions - Website with study questions and image collection
Applied ethics has been gaining wide attention in a variety of curriculums, and there is growing awareness of the need for ethical training in general. Well-publicized ethical problems such as the Challenger disaster, the Ford Pinto case and the collapse of corporations such as Enron have highlighted the need to rethink the role of ethics in the workplace. The concept of applied ethics originated in medicine with a groundbreaking book published in 1979. Business ethics books began to appear in the 1980s, with engineering ethics following in the 1990s. This volume now opens up a new area of applied ethics, comprehensively addressing the ethical issues confronting the civil aviation industry. Aviation is unique in two major ways: firstly it has a long history of government regulations, and secondly its primary focus is the safety of its passengers and crew. For decades commercial aviation was viewed in the same manner as public utilities, and thus it was highly regulated by the government. Since the Deregulation Act of 1978, aviation has been viewed as any other business while other experts continue to believe that the sudden switch to deregulation has caused problems, especially since many airlines were unprepared for the change. Ethical Issues in Aviation focuses on current concerns and trends, to reflect the changes that have occurred in this deregulated era. The book provides the reader with an overview of the major themes in civil aviation ethics. It begins with theoretical frameworks, followed by sections on the business side of aviation, employee responsibility, diversity in aviation, ground issues regarding airports, air traffic control and security, as well as health and the environment. The contributors to the volume include both academics doing research in the field as well as professionals who provide accounts of the ethical situations that arise in the workplace.
