FSANA like many trade Associations is

in business to provide service to members who require support and guidance with their business models.

Associations are service providers, aggregators of news, a resource of information, protectors of their members, and much more. This is no different in the aviation sector, and there are a great number of associations that are here to help those involved in the aviation sector.

FSANA is a trade association specifically focused on providing service and representation for the providers of flight training in the aviation industry. There are other aviation associations that focus on interest groups ranging from services for pilots, airport management, corporate aviation, agricultural aviation, electronics and many more. Each plays a role in their respective aviation segments from which their members benefit.

The work requires input from constituents, membership, government and communication.

Over the past year, FSANA has had increased requests from flight training providers who require information, representation, direction or advocacy on specific issues. These requests come from schools the smallest to the largest flight training providers in America.

FSANA has stepped up and helped in each of those cases. In some of these cases, the entities that needed help could have averted more challenging situations had they reached out sooner.

FSANA is busy and getting busier as more flight schools realize the value proposition that comes with membership. For schools that are not members, we will do our best to hear your issue however FSANA members come first.

Trade associations are here to help you when and if the time comes that help is required.

In many cases, it is not a question of if but a question of when. Do not be afraid to reach out when an issue starts to show-up on your doorstep. Addressing issues sooner is always best.

FSANA like most trade associations can not solve every problem. However, trade associations maintain connections and resources that they can call upon to provide assistance and advocacy. We may be able to help solve many problems that members have not encountered previously or been able to solve on their own.

FSANA recently began helping a member who found themselves a target of an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint due to "refusal to provide training" to an individual who had a hearing disability and was deaf. There are over 300 deaf certificated pilots.

There was no malice or malintent on the part of the training provider, they just had zero experience with providing training for the particular challenge and did not feel equipped to do so.

The school was not aware that it was possible to get a pilot certificate with the particular disability. FSANA was eventually contacted and able to help provide resources and education that may help remedy the complaint, but had the school reached out earlier it might have averted the filing of a complaint and the need to deal with that extra challenge.

Sometimes, it is hard for us to know what we do not know. Reaching out to others in our community and bringing us all together to share information is the best way to avert instances such as this example.

The main benefit of membership in an association is the resources it can provide that any individual entity may not be able to leverage.

Help us spread the importance of membership in FSANA and other associations. The greater the number of flight training providers that are members of FSANA, the more leverage, resources, and experience our association will be able to bring to bear for each and every member. If you are a member, we thank you and stand ready as an association to help wherever we are able. If you are not a member, please join today.

FSANA members know we stand ready to help. So do all of the associations in the aviation industry for their members. If there is one message we can send, it is to reach out sooner than later. If you have questions or concerns your association can help with, call them. Ask for help. There is no shame in it; we all stand stronger when we work together and provide each other with the resources that improve our overall industry.

Over the past couple of years, FSANA has been tracking some notifications that the FAA has put out regarding potential changes to CFI renewal and initial certification requirements. In an effort to provide feedback to the FAA prior to any formal notices of proposed rulemaking, FSANA put forth the effort to bring together a number of representatives from associations, training products providers, and training providers to discuss what the potential changes could mean what recommendations the industry can provide the FAA to help guide any rulemaking efforts.

Meeting in Dallas on April 20th, the participants discussed what potential changes could mean for safety, training efficiency, and the quality of training.

"The first goal is to always ensure that we have a safe training system," said FSANA President & CEO Bob Rockmaker. "We support changes that could enhance efficiency as long as the quality of training is maintained and the changes are such that all training providers are able to do business on a level playing field. Changes to training regulations should not be promulgated to meet one specific interest group, a carve-out, based on political influence."

The group spent the day working discussing what changes have been proposed publicly and will be publishing a full report of considerations and recommendations in the upcoming weeks.

FSANA continues to work on an effort to stand up a new DPE review board to be utilized in any cases where a DPE feels they have been wrongfully terminated from their abilities to provide the services. The board will include representatives who are DPEs, the flight training industry, and from aviation associations who can serve as a review panel to whom a DPE may appeal a termination decision.

FSANA knows that some terminations of DPEs are fully deserved. Bad actors need to be weeded out of the system. Training standards cannot be compromised. But we have also heard of some cases where a DPE may have been terminated and the reason is less clear or contended. At this time, a DPE has no outlet to request appeal "for cause" of a termination; they can only appeal "if the process by which the FAA has terminated a DPE" meets guidance. FSANA feels that it is important also to have the potential to review if a DPE may have been terminated unjustly.

As such, a review board is being developed to which a DPE can appeal, document, and present a case to refute a termination decision. This panel at this time does not have any official standing with the FAA, something we hope will change over time and would be in alignment with recommendations from the recent DPE ARAC, but it certainly can provide a recommendation for further review upon completion of a review process to FAA representatives.

FSANA is open to interested parties who would like to serve on the board. If you or someone you know would like to serve, please email Glen Pace at mrpmg@yahoo.com with the subject line "DPE Review Board". Please include your bio.

May is Learn to Fly Month, and FSANA is challenging flight training providers to use this month-long effort to try to attract new customers who might want to learn to fly for a career, for business, or just for fun!

FSANA encourages flight schools and organizations to collaborate and hold events and promotions focused on getting more people to learn to fly.

All flight schools across the country are invited and encouraged to participate in Learn to Fly Month, not just FSANA members. If you haven't set anything in motion for this initiative yet, it isn't too late! FSANA is providing this set of six free tools intended to help flight schools and others interested in promoting Learn to Fly Month. Please take a moment to check them out and incorporate them into your own Learn to Fly Month events.

FSANA encourages all flight schools and others in the industry, including the supply chain and trade associations, to be involved. To find out how to participate, contact Debbie Sparks at 561-767-6826 or send an email to info@fsana.com.

FSANA is continuing to update the soon-to-come flight school accreditation program which will lead to accredited flight schools being able to accept flight students who have borrowed money under the United States Department of Education (USDE) Title IV loan program along with Pell grants which are not loans.

Flight schools that become accredited will be termed "Institutions" under the USDE regulations. The USDE tracks all post-secondary institutions each month with respect to closures. They produce the Closed Schools Weekly/Monthly Reports (CSMR) which list all schools (both for-profit and not-for-profit schools) that were participating and fully recognized by the USDE and which have subsequently closed.

You can find the lists at the following:

Flight schools that are interested in moving toward becoming accredited should begin to familiarize themselves with the USDE and its regulations. Schools that put the effort into the soon-to-launch update accreditation program will find themselves with a whole new set of regulations. Of course, with the added work will come a whole new pathway for flight students who up until now were not able to fund their flight training career pathway.

Designees are encouraged to review the updated FAA Order 8000.95B that was published and signed recently.

It can be found at: https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/Order_8000.95B.pdf

Do you know a student studying for a career in the airline industry?

The Regional Airline Association (RAA) has opened scholarships for 2022. RAA's paramount goal is to encourage future generations to pursue aviation while helping to offset the financial burden placed on students during their education and training. Three annual scholarships in the amount of $4,000 per recipient will be awarded.

Applicant requirements:

How to apply:

Plans for the 14th Annual International Flight School Operators Conference are moving along. The 2023 edition is returning to the Rosen Plaza in Orlando, Florida, on March 1-3, 2023.

More information is forthcoming, but for now, mark your calendar to join FSANA and a wide variety of industry partners and fellow flight training providers for the event that each year brings these groups together. There will be loads of content to discuss as the aviation industry continues to come back from COVID 19.