EXCLUSIVE: GOP Rep Takes Another Shot At Revitalizing America’s Battered Aviation Industry

Republican Georgia Rep. Mike Collins will reintroduce legislation to incentivize Americans to join the aviation industry.

Collins’ Aviation Workforce Development Act would make training at Federal Aviation Administration-certified commercial pilot and aircraft maintenance technician schools eligible as a qualified expense for 529 college savings plans. Allowing parents or guardians to use 529 plan funds for aviation programs would encourage more of America’s youth to become pilots and aircraft mechanics, according to background on the bill shared exclusively with the Daily Caller News Foundation. (RELATED: ‘Accident Waiting To Happen’: Feds Ignored DC Death Trap For Years Despite Dozens Of Near Misses With Planes, Choppers)

“This year’s safety concerns have made it clear that the commercial aviation industry needs a steady supply of pilots and aircraft mechanics to remain strong,” Collins told the DCNF.  “The bipartisan Aviation Workforce Development Act, H.R. 1818, amends the tax code so Americans pursuing a career in aviation have the same tools as those seeking four-year degrees with zero increased cost to taxpayers.”

Collins Aviation Workforce Development Act by adam

Collins’ planned reintroduction of the bill comes after a spate of aviation disasters occurred in the United States, most prominently the collision of an American Airlines passenger jet with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29.

The bill is cosponsored by Republican Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly and Democratic Reps. Lucy McBath of Georgia and Jimmy Panetta of California.

“The airline industry has been experiencing a shortage of pilots for years, and early retirements forced by the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated that shortage,” Kelly told the DCNF. “We must do everything we can to incentivize more Americans to become airline pilots. This Aviation Workforce Development Act does just that.”

Though lawmakers are in widespread agreement that Congress should incentivize America’s youth to pursue careers in aviation, the country may no longer have a pilot shortage. The hiring environment for pilots notably slowed in 2024, a notable departure from a massive surge in hiring in 2022 and 2023, according to some analysis.

Collins’ bill has widespread support in the aviation industry and is backed by Airlines for America, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and the Air Line Pilots Association.

Collins previously introduced the legislation during the 118th Congress in March 2023. The bill attained more than 160 cosponsors, but failed to advance out of the House Ways and Means Committee.

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