The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and 16 other alphabet groups are praising a bill introduced by Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) that would help to address the aviation industry’s looming technical worker shortage.

Dubbed the “Aviation Maintenance Workforce Development Pilot Program,” it would allocate $5 million per year, from 2019 to 2023, for grants that the FAA Administrator could allocate to “eligible projects to support the education and recruitment of aviation maintenance technical workers and the development of the aviation maintenance industry workforce.” Individual grants could not exceed $500,000.

“This legislation would incentivize businesses, labor organizations, schools, and governmental entities to work together to pursue innovative new strategies to develop technical talent and encourage workers to pursue aviation careers,” the aviation organizations wrote in a letter of support they sent to the Senators this week. “Given the scale of the challenge facing companies in Oklahoma, Connecticut, Kansas, Washington, and elsewhere around the country, this proposal could not be timelier.”

According to recent studies cited by the groups, North America will need 118,000 new aircraft technicians over the next two decades, demand for aviation maintenance technicians will outstrip supply by 2022, and new entrants comprise just 2 percent of the aviation technician population annually. Meanwhile, 30 percent of the workforce is at or near retirement age.