The Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) announced its full endorsement of the U.S. House FAA Reauthorization Bill

(H.R. 3935) along with an amendment sponsored by Congressman Jay Obernolte of California’s 23rd Congressional District.

H.R. 3935 is titled, "Securing Growth & Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act". The Act reauthorizes the FAA for 5 years starting October 1, 2023.

Obernolte’s amendment to H.R. 3935 addresses a major bottleneck in pilot training – scheduling a practical flight test. Currently, airman practical flight test candidates can wait as many as 120 days for a flight test. The amendment calls for resources to reduce that to 14 days, allowing pilots to complete the final step in their training regimen without delay.

“The flight training industry is at the forefront of mitigating the global pilot shortage,” said FSANA president & CEO Robert Rockmaker. “However, we continue to see a steady flow of aviators being hamstrung by delays in their FAA-facilitated practical tests. Rep. Obernolte’s amendment ensures available resources so that applicants can schedule practical tests in a timely manner and make progress on their career path.”

Moving the needle on practical flight testing is the most recent example of how FSANA’s engagement with legislators in Washington has been essential in enhancing awareness of numerous issues that impact the flight training industry.

“Over four years ago, at a time when we were first becoming actively engaged on this issue, FSANA proposed the creation of a national testing office. With the recent passage of H.R. 3935 and this amendment, the association extends its appreciation to Congressman Obernolte for his significant efforts,” Rockmaker added.

The flight training market continues to see high demand for training throughput and a big part of that is provided by FAA 141 certificated training operations. With this demand, and in order to work toward the future, FSANA hosted a one-day meeting to discuss current and future structure and processes for these 141 providers.

As part of meeting logistics, FSANA staff enjoys visiting member schools when on the road. Justin Rockmaker and Bob Rockmaker with FSANA visited Mike Sykes, CEO of US Aviation in Denton, TX. along with Board Chair Jim White.

US Aviation has one of the largest flight training fleets in North America. The Helicopter Institute (HI) in Fort Worth was also on the visitation schedule. HI is one of the most advanced helicopter schools in North America.

The 141 meeting was hosted by FSANA in Dallas, TX. at the DFW Airport. Over 35 FSANA members flew in from across the U.S. to meet and discuss the good and not so good of Part 141. There were focused discussions on what improvements might help our industry become more efficient while maintaining quality production of new airman with safety as the primary target.

Based on the depth and quality of the discussions, a report is being prepared and will be submitted to the FAA for their review and use down the runway. Bob Rockmaker, FSANA president & CEO said, "Part 141 has many good qualities already in place and the input from the attendees will serve to enhance and improve the current regulations".

Part 141 is becoming even more critical due to the fact that flight schools that become accredited through the International Aerospace Accrediting Commission (IAAC)

must be Part 141 approved in accordance with current U.S. Department of Education guidance.

IAAC-accredited schools will be able to enroll students who have borrowed under the U.S. Department of Education Title IV loan and Pell grant programs.

The General Aviation Joint Safety Committee (GAJSC) is a government and industry partnership working to improve General Aviation safety. The GAJSC is comprised of both government and industry representatives that come together to study and analyze the General Aviation (GA) accidents that occur each year in the United States.

Kimberly Pyle, FAA Executive Director of the Office of Accident Investigation and Prevention has management oversight of the GAJSC for the FAA. Pyle is a focused and mission-driven leader who looks forward to continued progress which will lead to reducing GA accidents in the United States.

FSANA has been a participating industry partner with the GAJSC for over 5 years. Bob Rockmaker, FSANA president & CEO has shared that the safety goal in the GA industry must be "Zero Accidents". FSANA, HAI, AOPA Air Safety Institute and the Wings Industry Network support the GA safety goal of "Zero Accidents".

FSANA is pleased to share data from the GAJSC with the flight training community. Here are the latest GA safety metrics which identify the various core causes of GA accidents and incidents.

You can learn more about the General Aviation Joint Safety Committee (GAJSC) at:

https://www.gajsc.org/.

A data point that we don't believe has been largely shared in the past, we are sharing the current data that was recently presented to the General Aviation Joint Safety Committee.

FSANA is pleased to announce that it will be again hosting the 3rd annual DPE Symposium, November 8-9, 2023 in Orlando, FL. at the Rosen Plaza Hotel.

The event brings together current and future DPEs along with the FAA. An opportunity for DPES to give feedback to the flight training community, this event helps training providers improve the information shared and hopefully the future candidates they will encounter.

The quality of information and educational sharing is high level and attendees are provided with loads of insights, all aimed to help the DPE community to improve their knowledge and quality delivery of airman practical tests.

Registration will open in early September.

The FSANA 2024 Annual Conference and Trade show is slated for February 21-23, 2024 in Las Vegas. David Morse with CAE, Conference chairman along with Amanda Aldea from Craft Flight Training, Conference Vice Chair are working with a great team of people to create an extra special event since it will also be the 15th Anniversary of FSANA.

FSANA's 2024 conference will again help raise the bar for the flight training community. Bob Rockmaker, president & CEO commented, "The aviation industry is seeing very serious changes post COVID" and it is almost like the years that followed the October 24, 1978 passage by Congress of the Airline Deregulation Act".

Evolution is a common word today in both the airline and general aviation segments. We are getting very close to the real-time world of George Jetson from the TV program "The Jetsons" according to Rockmaker. Soon, people will be able to Uber by EVTOL across the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey in 8-10 minutes. Or cross the LA Basin in 8-10 minutes. Various companies are stating that fares will be between $50-$80 for a one-way trip.

The 2024 conference and trade show is where current and future flight school owners and operators, Chief Instructors and others along with a major portion of the supply chain come together to meet and discuss the state of flight training. They exchange and learn together in a collaborative process which yields positive results for all attendees.

Attendee registration will open in September 2023.

FSANA invites interested parties to submit suggested topic presentations which if selected will be presented at the 15th Annual Conference and Trade Show Feb 21-23, 2024 in Las Vegas.

Interested parties should submit their topic along with a few sentences on the subject matter. Please submit to David Morse, CAE Center Leader at david.morse@cae.com.

Place FSANA Topic Las Vegas in the email subject line. The submission deadline is August 31, 2023.

The FAA recently posted an NPRM on the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) that offers significant potential changes to sport pilot permissions and the weight limits LSA-certified aircraft may be operated at with manufacturer approval.

This is a major step in aircraft certification and operations of LSA aircraft that has been anticipated for a while. A major factor in this proposal is an allowance for an increase in the allowable gross weight for LSA aircraft previously limited to 1320 LBS. Proposed is that the manufacturer will be allowed to increase the gross weight to a stated ability as determined by the manufacturer. This has the potential to significantly increase the utility of previously weight-restricted aircraft for the flight training community.

FSANA will be reviewing the NPRM and providing official comments from the association but encourages members to also review the NPRM and provide feedback to either FSANA staff or directly themselves.

Comments are due by October 23, 2023.

The International Aerospace Accrediting Commission headed by Thomas Kube, Executive Director, will hold its Spring 2024, "Seeking Accreditation Workshop" in conjunction with the FSANA 2024 Annual Conference and Trade Show in Las Vegas.

For more information, contact the IAAC at 480-451-7205 or tkube@iaac.aero

Halfway through the year, the question of how we are tracking when it comes to the numbers of ATP certifications issued for airplane multi-engine pilot certificates. The numerical flow of issuance of these ATP certificates is directly related to how well we are doing at continuing to provide a flow of pilots able to provide service in the airline environment. It is without doubt a data point worth following.

The good news is that we are tracking very closely to the number of issuances, in fact, slightly higher year-to-date as of June than we were in 2022. Considering 2022 was a high-point year in recent history, this means we might be producing as many ATP certifications as our system may allow.

You can see the monthly issuance on a month-by-month basis in the table here to the right. A track of the yearly track as the months go by each year from 2017 through 2023 as of June this year is below and offers further comparison. The chart does show drops in 2020 and 2021 as the system was affected by covid restrictions as one might expect, but also tracking higher in numbers than years previous to 2022.

The production rates seem to be relatively stabilized, perhaps indicating what a maximum potential production rate per month in our current infrastructure might be overall.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has tasked the Pipeline, Pathways, & Partnerships Workgroup (P3 WG) of the Air Carrier Training Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ACT ARC)* with gathering information on pathways and partnerships intended to expand, develop, and diversify the pilot workforce in the United States. In support of that effort, the P3 WG requests that flight schools participate in voluntary data collection by completing an online survey about their training programs.

Supplied information will be used to develop the ACT ARC’s public report to the Federal Aviation Administration. Some of the information requested may already be available to the public via sources such as promotional materials, industry and other publications, and schools’ own online content. Nevertheless, if any respondent would prefer that the ACT ARC not include certain supplied information in its public report, or that the report only include such information in deidentified fashion, they will have the ability to so indicate in the final section of the form.

*The ACT ARC is made up of aviation industry representatives and was chartered on January 21, 2014, to develop recommendations to the FAA regarding policy and guidance with respect to air carrier training, including part 121 and part 135 air carriers and part 142 training centers. The ACT ARC formed the P3 WG at the request of the FAA to examine the current environment and challenges faced by air carriers and other industry participants in ensuring needs for suitably trained and qualified pilots are met, and in improving diversity in the aviation industry.

The FAA has recently released an updated Advisory Circular on Non-Towered Airport Flight Operations (AC 90-66C), issued on June 6, 2023.

This is a great document to brush up on your understanding of traffic pattern operations, study for any upcoming checkride, or to use with your students if you are CFI.

You can find it at:

The FAA has recently updated the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. Instructors and students are advised to update their study activities to the new edition.

You can find the updated files for download and sharing with your instructors and students at:

The ASA Library is a new eBook reading platform for desktop and mobile devices. The ASA Library seamlessly connects with customers' asa2fly.com accounts so that eBooks can be accessed on multiple devices and downloaded on up to three devices immediately following purchase or redemption. All ASA eBooks are updated in real time in the ASA Library, so highlights and bookmarks made using one device will appear when opened on another.

Features include the ability to highlight, bookmark, and take notes as well as search text. An interactive table of contents provides a quick jump to specific chapters. Easy-to-read rendering and an intuitive user interface make reading enjoyable.