If your organization holds AS9100 (9100:2016) certification, the word “audit” probably already carries some weight around your quality department. What’s less understood, even among experienced quality engineers, is who’s actually qualified to conduct those audits and what it takes to become one of them.
This post covers what the Aerospace Auditor Transition Training program (AATT for short) is, who needs it, why the IAQG requires it, and why more aerospace manufacturers are putting their own quality staff through it instead of leaning entirely on outside auditors.
AATT stands for Aerospace Auditor Transition Training. It’s the foundation-level course the International Aerospace Quality Group requires for anyone seeking authentication as an AQMS auditor under the 9100:2016 standard, using 9101:2016 audit forms.
Put simply, if someone wants to be authorized to conduct first-, second-, or third-party audits against AS9100, EN9100, or JISQ9100 (Rev D), the IAQG requires them to complete AATT first. It isn’t optional coursework. It’s the mandated Foundation Course requirement underneath the entire AQMS auditor authentication process.
The AATT bundle has two parts, and both are required.
Both pieces have to be completed to satisfy the Foundation Course requirement. The online modules aren’t optional extras; they’re a prerequisite for the instructor-led week.
AATT tends to draw a mix of people:
A working knowledge of AS9100:2016 and prior QMS Lead Auditor training are the expected starting point. AATT is a transition course into audit-specific application, not an introduction to quality management systems from scratch.
Most aerospace manufacturers already have a relationship with a third-party Certification Body, and that relationship isn’t going anywhere. AATT doesn’t replace it. What changes is what your own team brings to it.
An internal quality engineer who’s been through the same Foundation Course training your third-party auditor completed tends to pick up on things others miss: how auditors are trained to read the 9101:2016 forms and build audit evidence, what auditing for effectiveness (not just compliance) actually looks like day to day, where nonconformities tend to get written and why, and how to prepare documentation in the format an external auditor already expects to see.
An audit-trained internal team member can help your organization walk into a certification audit better prepared. That’s not the same as promising a shorter audit or a specific outcome, but it’s a real, defensible advantage: your team has sat through the same training your external auditor has.
A few things make this particular window worth paying attention to. Budgeting season is happening now for a lot of aerospace organizations, and training decisions made in the next few weeks often shape next year’s audit readiness. The online component alone takes 10 to 15+ hours to complete, and it has to be finished before the instructor-led week begins, so the real planning window starts earlier than most people assume. And this is the last AATT class scheduled for 2026.
Plexus International is one of a limited number of IAQG-sanctioned training providers authorized to deliver AATT, and IAQG selected Plexus to design and develop the AATT program itself. The course content wasn’t licensed or adapted from someone else’s material. Plexus built it, for the IAQG.
Plexus’s AATT bundle also includes the required online component in the same price as the instructor-led week, with no separate purchase needed. If you’re comparing providers, it’s worth checking directly whether their quoted price includes the online prerequisite or bills it on top.
Plexus’s final instructor-led AATT session of the year runs November 17 to 20, 2026, in Phoenix, AZ. Because the online component alone takes 10 to 15+ hours to finish before the instructor-led week starts, registering early actually matters here. Wait until the last minute and there’s little runway left to get through the prerequisite work. We’re recommending teams register by October 6 to leave themselves a comfortable window.
If your team is building 2027 training budgets right now, this is a natural moment to make the case for getting an internal quality engineer AATT-trained before the year closes out.
Have questions about prerequisites, pricing, or whether AATT is the right fit for your team? Reach out to the Plexus team or contact your Plexus sales representative directly.
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