Wichita ? The Kansas Technical Training Initiative is rolling out a new program for displaced aviation workers.

The program is designed to train those with aircraft experience to pass the Federal Aviation Administration’s requirements for Airframe Certified Aviation Maintenance Technicians — but in a shorter time frame than those without aviation experience.

“That’s the key — that individuals have to have this individual experience,” said Greg McCoy, the initiative’s director of aviation programs.

Despite a downturn in the economy and work force reductions, a long-term need for experienced and specially trained employees still exists, said Peter Gustaf, the group’s executive director.

“This program is designed to help meet the anticipated need for thousands of FAA-certified airframe and powerplant mechanics in the coming years,” Gustaf said.

The class is designed to allow people with aviation experience to get one piece of their training in special, shorter classes than those for people without aircraft experience, McCoy said. They would then take a formal power plant class at an FAA-certified school, he said.

The Kansas Technical Training Initiative is a public-private partnership formed by Wichita’s four aircraft manufacturers, the city of Wichita, Sedgwick County, the state of Kansas and the Wichita school district 259.