Major FAA Training and Regulatory Changes Underway
April 2025
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FAA Revamping NOTAMs
The FAA is back on track to revamp how NOTAMS are delivered and parsed. They intend to align the system with the ICAO format to make them less dense and easier to read, categorize, and understand. They had put this project on the back burner earlier this year, saying they would not meet the end-of-year deadline. Earlier this week, they said the project is going ahead with an end-of-year completion.
This has been a sore spot for almost everyone, from the Chairman of NTSB, who said, “No wonder people fly into areas they aren’t supposed to. With the level of detail and irrelevant information mixed with important information.” I paraphrased what he said, but it was to that effect.
Looking forward to not reading tens of pages of gibberish in the future.
Mike will be part of the 141 Modernization Group - Ops Group.
Mike will be working with a group of around 20, and Paul Preidecker, the current President of NAFI, will moderate. The group’s responsibilities will include Curriculum, Completion Requirements, and Training Methods. The group’s focus is to make recommendations about the changes and/or new regulations that should be written/discarded/modified to make operators under Part 141 less encumbered and more effective.
The goal of AFS-800, led by Everett Rashon, is to completely rewrite Part 141, not to try to fix it. The National Flight Training Association, NFTA, is leading the effort. They are a lobbying and liaison organization based in Washington, D.C, leading off the main meetings regarding 141. The next meeting will be at the FAA Regional Headquarters in early May, in Burlington, MA. This is an in-person and remote meeting. Each meeting is three days and focuses on an area. The last meeting in Atlanta focused on initial certification and examining authority. The meeting in MA will focus on Safety.
The last meeting will be in November, in El Segundo, CA (By LAX in Los Angeles.) After that, the groups will finish and submit their recommendations. Those will be correlated and put together as a complete recommended solution to Part 141 by March 2026.
Within the FAA, there are some really good people working on this, including Jane Hardy, that currently runs the 141 side of things there. There are also other high-level people within AFS-800 working on this. In total, at the FAA meetings, there are around 10 individuals working on this project.
After March, if everything goes well, the results will go to rulemaking, and they will get to work on it.
We will keep you posted.
Power Hours are gaining attendance and expanding content
Every Saturday, CFI Bootcamp produces “The Power Hour.” An hour-long show about flight training. Topics vary from Instructor Centric to Pilot Centric topics. To date, there have been 232 Power Hours. Many have attended since its inception in June 2020.
The Power Hour started in the middle of the COVID Pandemic as a way to get together safely and talk about aviation, specifically, Flight Training. The first power hour had around 12 attendees. As the weeks went on, the attendees went up to around 18. After almost a year, there were between 20 and 30. After that, there were around 40-60. That stayed for a long time.
Last year, in November, the attendees grew. There were 400-600, and today there are between 500 and 1000, all coming to have an Aviation Saturday.
The show’s format is changing, but the Power Hour segment is not. Here’s what we’re doing on Saturdays now:
The first Segment is the live show “The Power Hour.” An hour deep dive into an aviation topic. Typically, this is eligible for Wings Credit.
The second hour is a review of the questions in the chat and a possible second show by a recognized entity like SAFE, NAFI, Greg Brown, the CFI Study Group, AOPA, and so on. If there isn’t a scheduled second show, then it’s open mic for attendees to ask questions, comment, and so on.
The third hour is open mic for conversation - Building an online community/helping each other.
Lately, we haven’t finished up earlier than 4 pm Eastern. 4 hours of entertainment. There isn’t anything quite like it. The unique approach mixed with the traditional live show seems to have hit the spot for many pilots and CFIs.
Join the crowd for all or part of the Power Hour Saturdays.
FAA Drops the Medical Denial Procedure Proposal
The Chief Flight Surgeon, who runs the FAA Medical Division, has announced that they are dropping the proposed Medical Denial Procedure.
This procedure was to take effect early this year, but was delayed due to a lot of pushback.
The procedure was to deny a Medical to any airman who produced an incomplete application for a Medical Certificate, rather than deferring it. This could have had profound effects on airmen trying to land a job or keep the one they have, because a medical denial is a triggering event in either the hiring process or the HR process.
Fortunately, the whole idea was dropped, and they will continue to use the procedure already in place.
PROTIPS
If you are serious about working in Flight Training as a career, attend at least one conference per year. People attending conferences are typically there because they are doing this for a career. You want to know those people and prove you are starting your career. Over the months and years, you may find opportunities with those you meet and have lunch with.
JOIN SAFE (Safepilots.org), or NAFI (Nafinet.org). You’ll get connected to the latest changes at the FAA and have a lot of great resources. You’ll also get ⅓ off your ForeFlight Subscription.
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You don’t need to keep track of your endorsements and test results for knowledge tests.
You can use it instead of showing the FOI test to the DPE for a flight instructor checkride, no matter how long ago you took it. Normally, the knowledge test is good for 24 calendar months. With the AGI, there is no time limit.
You can endorse a person for any category/class knowledge test. For CFI, you can only endorse what you hold on your flight instructor certificate.
You need the AGI or IGI to qualify for a Gold Seal Flight Instructor Certificate. Recommended at least 10 applicants with at least an 80% first-time pass rate within 2 years, and have an AGI or IGI.
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