Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA)

What It Is

The Aircraft Electronics Association is the avionics industry's trade association. Founded in 1957 and headquartered in Missouri, it represents nearly 1,300 member companies in more than 40 countries, including the government-certified repair stations that maintain, repair, and install electronics in general aviation aircraft, along with avionics manufacturers, instrument shops, distributors, and schools. It holds an annual convention, publishes Avionics News, and has spent more than a decade working with ASTM International to create a nationally recognized Aircraft Electronics Technician certification. In 2018, at AEA's request, the FAA formally recognized that certification, with an endorsement in a navigation or communications specialty, as meeting the training requirement for a repairman certificate.

Why It Matters

Before AEA's certification work, most avionics technicians learned on the job and had no standard credential of their own; the FAA's airframe and powerplant ratings were designed for mechanics, not electronics specialists. The Aircraft Electronics Technician certification gives students and new technicians a recognized way to prove what they know, and it gives shops a way to hire with confidence. AEA's regional meetings and convention are also where avionics shop owners, the people who actually hire technicians, gather, which makes the association a useful door into the industry.