FSANA is working to expand some of its focus to include the airman medical behavioral health and wellness category. To begin the process, FSANA is creating a working group (committee) to engage with the subject as it relates to airman training at the upcoming conference. The first meeting will be at 8 am on February 21 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The meeting will be open to all FSANA members and conference attendees planning to attend the 15th Annual Conference.

There is a great need to provide guidance on the topic of airman behavioral health. This includes both during initial flight training as well the post-training environment.

As the new working group navigates the topic, there will be documentable written guidance that will become critical for flight schools and others who own and/or operate aircraft. As they say, ignorance is bliss. FSANA follows a simple approach built on the "Never Ending Improvement" concept.

The project will focus on increasing awareness while at the same time creating some basic process for what and how to execute when a person demonstrates a myriad of indicators that could help define a minor or major health challenge.

The upcoming conference will have several SMEs in the behavioral health space on hand to address attendees next month.

Special registration discount rate for the FSANA 2024 Annual Conference and Trade Show and 15th Anniversary celebration is slated for February 21-23, 2024 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas ends February 2, 2024.

Aviation training sectors are seeing rapid changes, fleet modifications, and new technologies available to help fill the career-pilot pipeline. These and many other topics will be discussed in the 2024 conference.

The 2024 Conference and Trade Show is where current and future flight school owners and operators, managers, 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.

8am - Airman Human Behavior

9am - Airman Practical Testing

10am - Safety

11am - Training Aircraft

1pm - Legislative Affairs

3pm - Airline Updates General Session

6pm Reception and Dinner

8am - 4pm General and breakout sessions

Noon - Luncheon Speaker

4pm Flight School Workshops

9am - 3pm General and breakout sessions

For more specific conference information, visit the following links:

The 2024 Las Vegas trade show exhibit space is sold out and a waiting list has been established. Please contact Debbie Sparks at FSANA if you would like to be placed on the waiting list.

FSANA is proud to have Dave Rosenberg serve as the first speaker of the 2024 conference on Wednesday evening. You can see a quick video from Dave promoting his attendance by clicking, Watch now.

Dave Rosenberg is a combat-decorated veteran who flew the Navy’s first mission of Operation Desert Shield by accident. Since leaving the Navy, he has owned and helmed multiple companies before starting Locked On Leadership, a consulting firm specializing in developing self-directed, high-performance teams.

If you are going to be attending this year's conference, be sure to not miss the Wednesday evening kick-off dinner session with Dave speaking.

Having begun its official launch in February 2023, the International Aerospace Accrediting Commission has now accepted five applications for accreditation. The following schools have attended the IAAC Seeking Accreditation Workshop and have met the initial eligibility criteria:

Academy of Aviation

Main Campus, Farmingdale, NY

Academy of Aviation

Branch Campus, West Harrison, NY

Academy of Aviation

Branch Campus, Peach Tree City, GA

Academy of Aviation

Branch Campus, Gastonia, NC

Thrust Flight

Main Campus, Addison, TX

W/Satellite Campus in Denison, TX

Next steps for these schools are to submit the IAAC Standards Self-Study and receive on-site visits to review compliance with accreditation criteria. The Commission welcomes public comment on these and any schools seeking accreditation. Interested parties may send comments to Accreditation@iaac.aero.

IAAC eligibility criteria is located at https://www.iaac.aero/history_eligibility.php

Schools wishing to know more about the IAAC, its standards, and its processes may do so at www.iaac.aero or consider attending the upcoming workshop on February 20, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Participation in the IAAC Workshop is a requirement prior to submitting an application for accreditation. Workshop details can be found at https://www.iaac.aero/events.php.

The FAA's airman knowledge testing numbers for 2023 were just released, and to little surprise, increases in testing volume were again experienced in most categories. With active hiring, a very positive outlook on the career path being spread, and training providers ramping up to meet demand, 2023 again looks to include peak pilot production levels.

Across the most common tests we saw increases in volume as can be seen on the following chart tracking some of the most common tests in our industry including private pilot airplane, instrument rating airplane, commercial pilot airplane, ATP multi- and single-engine airplane, CFI airplane, and sport pilot tests.

This increasing volume trend has been seen over the past few years and is an indicator that we are likely to see the same in corresponding airman certificate issuance numbers (which we will likely see out in the near future). Knowledge test volume trends historically have corresponded closely with the next step in the airman certification process, practical test volumes and airman certificate issuances.

When we compare year to year, we see that most tests saw double-digit percentage-based increases in volumes even from 2022-2023. The only of these main tests that did not was the ATP airplane multi- and single-engine tests, although that additionally saw a significant increase. These points can be seen in this table.

These data points are just that, points, and can't tell us everything about our industry. But they can show us that with increasing volumes flight training efforts are doing their part to continue to expand capacity to training pilots to meet future employment demands these pilots may be seeking to fill.

The FAA Flight Standards Service has recently sent out notice that it is making key improvements to application processing by combining elements of the certification process.

Effective January 24, 2024, the Flight Standards Service (FS) is utilizing a new process to increase applicant readiness for initial certifications, which is applicable to applicants for an air carrier, air operator, or air agency certificate, or the issuance of management specifications (MSpec) in accordance with Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) parts 91 subpart K (part 91K), 125, 133, 135, 137, 141, 142, 145 (Domestic), and 147.

While most flight training providers aren't going to be engaged with developing new airline approvals, enhanced processing of applications for part 141 and 142 operations may offer some relief for those seeking approval for these types of operations.

The FAA notes that "this new process is a continuation of our efforts to enhance the certification process. Flight Service is committed to designing long term, sustainable improvements that reduce certification wait times and improve application processing.

Please see FAA Notice 8900.687: Determine Applicant Readiness for Certification for further information on this new effort.

FSANA is rescheduling the upcoming DPE conference until October or November 2024 to take place in Orlando.

With some government travel limitations in place coupled with selecting the hotel location for the event took more time than in past years and we want to have enough time to make sure the event is a fully planned and successful event for all who attend. Our goal is to provide the best event possible, and delaying just a bit is going to make that more deliverable.

We appreciate your patience and look forward to the attendance of DPEs and others in the practical test real. We know by October, there will be MUCH to discuss.

The event will again bring together current and future DPEs along with the FAA. Topics about examiner best practices, how to become an examiner, how to work with flight schools, and much more will again be discussed. 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.

The program, attendee registration and room reservation information will be available toward the end of December. For now, mark your calendars if you are a current or future DPE and want to engage more with the DPE community.

The International Aerospace Accrediting Commission (IAAC) headed by Thomas Kube, executive director, will piggyback its Spring 2024, "Seeking Accreditation Workshop" with the FSANA 2024 Annual Conference and Trade Show in Las Vegas. The all-day IAAC workshop is being held on Tuesday February 20. Independent of the FSANA conference, it requires a separate registration fee.

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