Story ID: 
NATA Announces New MX Organization Award 
By: David A. Lombardo
Caption: The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has developed a new maintenance honor open to any full-time aircraft and/or components maintenance or re
Word Count: 193
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has developed a new maintenance honor open to any full-time aircraft and/or components maintenance or repair business or a Part 91, 121, 125, 127, 129, 133, 135, 137, 141, 145 or 147 entity that conducts aviation maintenance. The NATA Aviation Maintenance Technician Employer Recognition Program awards aviation maintenance organizations that encourage and support aviation maintenance technician training. 
The award is based on the percentage of AMTs employed (directly or indirectly) by a maintenance organization who participate in qualified training events. An AMT must complete at least 12 hours of training each year to be counted toward the organization’s award percentage. 
“This award is meant to complement the FAA’s Aviation Maintenance Technician Award. However, our maintenance organization members found the paperwork for the existing FAA award program to be cumbersome and time-consuming. The NATA Aviation Maintenance Technician Employer Recognition Program will lighten the paperwork burden while acknowledging employers that support education and training within the aviation maintenance industry,” said Eric Byer, NATA vice president of government and industry affairs. 
The program will run on a calendar year, so training hours completed between January 1 and December 31 will qualify for 2010 recognition.