The final day of events as a part of the FSANA 2025 Conference began with a discussion of FAA efforts to make changes to 141 programs and potentially offer reduced minimums of flight time from the 1500-hour requirements in non-collegiate operations.

FSANA is very engaged in this discussion, about which more is highlighted in an article lower in this newsletter, and how it might affect training operations around the country. A key concern is that the training sector should be offered equal access to the regulatory environment and be allowed to provide training in a variety of different pathways under the same regulatory options.

Breakout sessions on day two talked about "Maximizing Fleet Utilization for Increased Profitability", "Flight Instructor Standardization: Excellence in Training", and "Overcoming Maintenance Challenges and Solutions" for flight training operations. Each of these sessions was again focused on developing information sharing to flight training providers to improve quality and efficiency.

After a lunch session, a final afternoon session talked with a panel of representatives from airline manufacturers and pilot training finance providers, "Fleet Modernization and Financing Solutions," to help flight training providers understand options for new fleet aircraft, financing of those aircraft, and how to help students finance their training with training providers.

Every year attendees, exhibitors, and representatives of government agencies who come to the FSANA Flight School Operators Conference find the gathering a unique and valuable opportunity to come together and work toward continued improvement in the flight training business sector. If you missed it this year, watch the FSANA notifications for the announcement of the location and date of the 2026 event and make plans early to attend.

Long-time aviation writer and retired airline captain, Les Abend joined the FSANA 2025 conference for lunch on day two to share some of his experiences, insights, and passion for aviation.

With over four decades of experience in professional aviation, Les talked about some of these concerns related to the rapid hiring of airline pilots and whether it generates reduced experience needed to be safe and effective captains.

A key factor in aviation safety is captain's mindset and ability. His discussion brought this point to the training sector and how flight training operations can help build captain decision-making and leadership skills from the early points in the training process.

Les Abend has been a speaker, writer, and media personality in aviation for many years. He is a retired American Airlines B777 captain and former check airman. He is also a 23-year contributing editor to Flying Magazine, an occasional contributor to CNN OpEd, a periodic on-air aviation analyst to MSNBC, CNBC, NBC, CNN, and other media outlets. Les is the author of the aviation-themed novel Paper Wings, a mystery, suspense, whodunnit thriller.

Les has inspired and motivated aspiring airline pilots at universities and flight schools, assisting in making our skies safer. Learn more about Les at www.captainlesabend.com.

The FAA is currently working on potential changes to 141 training program guidance and regulation and FSANA believes this issue is of critical importance to the association and those engaged in flight training operations.

The FAA quietly issued a notice recently about upcoming efforts to "modernize pilot schools." While the effort and its content are already driving questions, FSANA is engaging with the process to ensure that the wider sections of the flight training industry are represented and have equal input in what the efforts drive going forward.

FSANA encourages our members, along with flight training industry partners and other interested parties to engage with this process and make sure all views and perspectives are a part of these critical business process and safety-oriented discussions relating to how the aviation training industry will operate going forward.

The first meeting of this effort that is open to industry participants is March 6, 2025, and will be a virtual meeting. You can find more information and sign-up to participate about the effort at: 

https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/federal-register-documents/2024-30250

FSANA Power Point Presentation on Air-Carrier Training Aviation Rule Making Committee (ACT ARC) at FSANA Conference

FSANA has been working with its members to evaluate the FAA's proposed changes and discussion efforts on FAR Part 141 training. At the recent FSANA conference in Orlando, FSANA Board Chair, Glen Pace presented a slide deck with discussion and concerns relating to some of the points in the FAA proposal to attendees.

Click here to see the slide deck.

In September of 2023, FSANA hosted an in person meeting with multiple parties in the flight training sector to discuss possible changes to FAR 141. FSANA then prepared a summary of the potential changes and/or adjustments in the 141 training environment. You can see the suggestions that were forwarded to the FAA at that time by clicking here.

Every Flight School Operators Conference includes specific breakout sessions presented by industry experts, product providers, and fellow flight training providers to share best practices, resources, and methodology to improve safety and training efficiency. The 2025 conference was no different.

Topics ranged from "What's New in Flight School Software Systems", "Safety Culture and Practices to Enhance Operational Accident/Incident Avoidance", "Hiring and Retaining Instructors", "The Business of Flight Training: Navigating the Challenges of Operating a Flight School", and "Maximizing Fleet Utilization for Increase Profitability" to name a few of the 12 specifically designed and unique sessions presented.

A key factor in improving flight training throughout our national airspace system is the sharing of information between providers that helps them all improve and learn from each other. While there is healthy competition between providers for customer base, best practices when shared can make all participants improve the service and quality of training for our future aviation workforce.

If you are a flight training provider and have never been to this conference, make it to next year's event. Every participant comes away with some new information they can implement in their own operations.

Before the official conference opening, FSANA's yearly conference was preceded by a series of committee meetings. These meetings focus on topics of interest and concern for the business of flight training. The goal of these committee meetings it to gather information for the association on what topics members want focus directed for efforts in upcoming years and to hear pain points within the industry.

FSANA committee meetings include a committee on Airman Wellness, Airman Practical Testing, Flight Training Safety, Training Aircraft, and Legislative Affairs. Each of these committees captured information and concerns from attendees and participants.

The wellness committee included a discussion of how flight training providers can be aware of and manage any airman wellness concerns in their staff or customer base. FSANA is going to be working on some tools for flight training providers over the next year to help them identify and work on these concerns when they present themselves.

The airman testing committee again discussed the current state of airman testing delays, what FSANA and other industry partners are doing to work with the FAA and testing providers to improve the efficiency of airmen testing provision, and some data requests that might allow better tracking and management of these delays. Concern was expressed at the lack of responsiveness and lack of customer service with regard to airmen knowledge testing in our system. This is a concern that FSANA is going to be looking at closely in the upcoming year as our current system is in essence a government-sponsored monopoly provision of airmen knowledge testing that for many, is not properly serving our pilot training and testing needs.

Safety was a topic covered, with a focus on how flight training providers will continue to implement enhanced safety management and best practices in their operations. Sharing this information between providers is something that makes all of our training systems safer and a topic area that FSANA is going to be working to provide more resources for members.

FSANA continues to engage with legislative efforts in the aviation industry, attempting to enhance the integration of flight training interests in the overall aviation legislative landscape. FSANA has remained engaged with the FAA's General Aviation Joint Safety Committee (GAJSC) and has begun engaging more in the last year with legislative efforts to benefit the flight training business. This is an effort that as FSANA continues to grow, so will the resources and efforts of the organization.

Committee meetings are a key part of every FSANA conference to help the association gather information from participants to help guide the organization's efforts and goals on behalf of the training industry. Thanks are certainly due to those participants in these meetings to help guide our association regarding the concerns that need to be voiced, worked on, and improved for our entire industry.

A student from Western Michigan University (WMU) is working on his thesis discussing current industry concerns of shortage of practical test provision or challenges in this system. The data from this survey will be completely de-identified from submitters and used for academic purposes, but the data results will also be presented in a paper that will, when completed later this year, be shared with industry members.

If you are a DPE, CFI or flight training provider, or an applicant who has sought or completed practical test events in the last couple of years, please help this student gather feedback and information to make the data robust.

DPEs - Take Survey

CFIs/Flight Training Providers - Take Survey

Students/Applicants for Practical Tests - Take Survey

The FAA is helping to develop the next generation of aviation professionals through two grants aimed at creating a more diverse pool of pilots and aviation maintenance technicians.  

The Aircraft Pilots Workforce Development Grants (www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ang/grants/awd/pilots) fund programs that educate students to become aircraft pilots or unmanned aircraft systems operators. T

The Aviation Maintenance Technical Workers Workforce Development Grants (www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ang/grants/awd/technical) fund programs that prepare people to be aviation maintenance technicians. Representatives of eligible organizations can submit applications at grants.gov through Feb. 5, 2025.  

Eligible organizations can apply for grants of up to $1 million for each grant per fiscal year. Last year the FAA awarded $13.5 million in grants to more than 30 schools and organizations.  

The Notice of Funding Opportunity for each grant provides detailed information on eligibility, deadlines, evaluation criteria and application procedures. To ensure fair and open competition for the grants, the FAA will post answers to frequently asked questions on its website at www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ang/grants/awd.

FSANA has had some members experience engine failures related to a specific Continental engine product. A member of ours is heading up some additional data collection and would like to hear from you if this is something you have experienced.

The affected engine is a Continental IOF240B.

The experiences have resulted in a damaged crank cluster gear, as described in SB14-2:(http://www.tcmlink.com/pdf2/SB14-2.pdf)

If this is something you have experience with, please email the following and we will have someone contact you to discuss your specific experience:

continentalio240engineissue@gmail.com