FSANA is hosting the first annual Designated Pilot Examiners Symposium for the flight examiner community in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday October 27, 2021, with pre-events scheduled for Tuesday. The conference will bring together DPEs and those interested in becoming DPEs to share and exchange information which will lead to improvements in the examiner segment. FAA officials will be on hand to share their insights and observations on the Designee system.

Designated Pilot Examiners (DPE) form the backbone of the airman practical testing system in America. There are over 800 DPEs in the Designee system and they are responsible for providing over 40,000 airman practical tests each year.

The event kicks off on Tuesday October 26 at 2:00 pm with a session for those wanting to become DPEs in the future. There will be an open forum and discussion which will follow the opening session. The following day will be a series of general sessions along with a workshop where attendees will break into smaller groups.

Symposium registration opens in June, so please watch for more information.

As the 2021 academic school year progresses, we hope you are adjusting well to changes in your school environment, whether it’s online, in-person, or a hybrid model. Given the impacts of COVID-19 on the international student life cycle this year, here are some updates from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on new flexibilities for some international students applying to participate in optional practical training (OPT) who have been impacted by COVID-related processing delays.

Recently, USCIS announced flexibilities for certain international students affected by delayed receipt notices for Forms I-765, "Application for Employment Authorization." These flexibilities include a 14-month OPT period and options for refiling after an application has been rejected.

For more information on these new flexibilities for OPT applicants, read the USCIS web alert.

FSANA is committed to the value of an in-person conference and after a decision to reschedule, is committed to the event in August this year in Orlando.

DATE: August 18-20, 2021

LOCATION: Rosen Plaza in Orlando, Florida

The 2021 conference will set the stage for the strong rebound that is already taking hold in the flight training arena. FSANA is dedicated to the pursuit of helping flight schools achieve their goals. Our ongoing advocacy for the training market continues to help create the next generation of aviators.

Please visit https://www.fsana.com/details.php for the latest information on the 2021 conference.

Want to save $200 off the regular registration rates? Register for the conference before May 1, 2021, and you will qualify for early-bird registration.

Aside from reminding everyone at our Orlando conference to be COVID smart (masks, social distancing), our host hotel, the Rosen Plaza, has gone to great lengths to assure everyone's safety at every turn and will continue to make this effort for our rescheduled conference dates. Rosen's Covid Commitment

Guests who prefer to phone in their reservations can call the hotel Reservation Center at 800-627-8258. Conference group name is Flight School Conference. Callers may also use group code 70073.

FSANA staff, board and conference committee members have worked hard to put together a productive and beneficial slate of content for the 2021 conference. The conference program is available to view and registration is open.

Want to sponsor or exhibit at this year's conference? Click the following link for more info:

2021 Sponsor/Exhibitor brochure (.pdf)

FSANA is pleased to announce that Jacob Peed has joined FSANA as development director. In his role, he will help support the trade association in all forms of sponsorship and annual partnership development.

Jacob is also publisher of AviNation magazine which is focused on attracting youth to the aviation industry. Jacob has a passion for helping the next generation to succeed.

FSANA is pleased to announce that Keith West has joined FSANA as education coordinator. In his role, he will support and coordinate educational content for FSANA members-only programs along with programs for the entire flight training community.

Keith was a US Navy pilot and is a CFII. He was Director of Flight Training at Heart of Virginia Aviation. His previous position was Senior Director of Flight School Business at AOPA.

The NTSB has issued its newest 2021-2022 Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements with some of the topics specifically focused on the aviation transportation sector.

The 2021 – 2022 Most Wanted List draws attention to more than 100 safety recommendations associated with the 10 items on the list. For example, NTSB says safety management systems (SMS) for aviation operations should address four components: safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance, safety promotion. In 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required commercial airliners to develop a comprehensive SMS to improve safety for the flying public. Yet the FAA has not required other revenue passenger-carrying operators to have one and although there has been some voluntary adoption of SMS programs, a vast majority of operators continue operating without an SMS in place.

To see the entire list, click here.

Applications for the 2021 RAA Scholarship Are Now Open!

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

One of RAA's paramount goals is to encourage future generations to pursue aviation while helping to offset the financial burden placed on students during their education and training.

**Three (3) annual scholarships in the amount of $4,000 per recipient will be awarded.**

Scholarship Requirements:

How to Apply?

Submit a full application online by June 4, 2021.

To learn more and apply, click here.

FSANA has had many discussions with flight training providers, DPEs, instructors, and applicants for tests over the past year. A question that has developed in relation to FAA practical tests is, "how long should they be?"

It's an interesting question, and one to which the FAA has no published data that is in any way prescriptive, or descriptive of the common experience to the best of our knowledge. But it is also one, to which the answer is, "it depends" in many cases.

We know that practical tests must be accomplished in accordance with established FAA ACS/PTS procedures, and in a way that meets the FAA order guidance for DPEs to conduct the tests, but that leaves some things to interpretation and situational circumstances. A test that is done at a controlled airport may take longer for the pattern work than one at a non-towered airport. A test under overlying airspace may require an applicant (and the DPE) to fly the aircraft further away to get to airspace in which they can conduct the required maneuvers. These things vary.

But averages are averages also. And there shouldn't be widely variant differences in average times for the same test, especially when a DPE is doing the job fully in compliance with the standards. It becomes even more concerning when one DPE has an average, of say, 2 hours for a ground portion and 1.5 for the flight portion and another examiner, under the same situations in the same airspace averages 1 hour for grounds and .8 for flights. Differences such as this should raise flags not only with the FAA from an oversight perspective but also from the flight training providers' perspective. These times are not just the "we are together in person" time, but the actual "in aircraft, loggable, billable" times that many flight training providers track via Hobbs meters. Many instructors and DPEs choose to back these times tracking up actual watch time, and using utilities such as flight planning software that can track flights.

Anecdotally, FSANA has been reported to that ground times on most private, instrument, and commercial tests average somewhere around 1.5 hours of ground and 1.5 hours of in-flight time. Multi-engine add-on tests seem to be slightly less, which makes sense since there are fewer testable requirements, with an average reported somewhere around 1.3 hours of ground and a similar 1.3 hours of flight time. We all know initial CFI tests are longer, and it is generally reported to us that these seem to clock in at around 4 hours of ground, with most examiners giving the applicant a lunch break, before proceeding to a flight that tends to be approximately 2 hours on average.

Why are we talking about this? -- because there can be variances in the testing times.

If you are seeing times that significantly vary from the above chart, there may be reason for concern.

Testing pilots at all levels, and doing so fully within the standards, is a critical part of the building blocks of safety in our aviation system. If we see places where all the required items are not being tested, it is fundamentally degrading those building blocks of safety.

Similarly, if we have "over testing" happening, especially if there are items being tested outside the standards for the test that is being given, it means the job isn't being done properly.

FSANA encourages flight training providers to debrief their applicants and get feedback. Know how those tests are actually going, not just if the customers are "passing or failing." This is important information to providing quality training, customer success, and ensuring the overall safety in our system.

Take the time to evaluate the tests that are happening as a result of the training your instructors are providing and/or in the aircraft you provide. If you see something that doesn't seem to make sense, is reported to be falling short of the required standards or maneuvers but is getting through, address it. A first step could be to talk with the DPE and ask some questions. Sometimes, the applicant feedback is less than accurate, we know they are nervous on the tests and their memory of the events can get confused. But after some internal review, and perhaps a discussion with the DPE conducting tests, if a real problem exists, it might be time to have additional discussions.

We know this can be hard, but if you are hearing of flight training providers that are undermining this process by "getting students done" in ways that circumvent or don't fully meet the standards, we need to do something about it. FSANA is always here to serve as a representative to discuss or even help manage these types of concerns if you don't feel comfortable doing so directly with FAA representatives.

Former NASA Space Shuttle Astronaut Charlie Precourt who is also EAA Vice Chairman along with Rick Marshall from Inflight Metrics have been gathering data on the controversial 180 degree turnback to the airport during departure with a powerplant loss.

Recently, Charlie and Rick made a presentation to the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) Safety Analysis Team (SAT).

"If a pilot loses power during takeoff, especially at a municipal airport, they instantly face two high-risk options. Glide forward and risk landing in the suburbs. Or turn back to the runway and risk not making it. Watch this interesting one-hour presentation on the topic of how a pilot can know what their best option is, regardless of the altitude it happens. You will see a demonstration of the Takeoff Advisor and learn more about the research project that is underway."

Part of the project included studying various GA "Turnback" fatal accidents.

The results say it all.

The results of their first round of real time survey work has brought them to a definite conclusion that turning back to the airport after a powerplant failure is a very bad decision that has bad outcomes most of the time.

Recently, Charlie spoke with Bob Rockmaker, FSANA President about the project. It was clear to Bob that Charlie is a highly qualified airman when it comes to aircraft energy management since the Space Shuttle was basically a large and heavy glider during the return to earth at the end of each mission.

The power-off return to the airport after an engine failure on takeoff has been contentious for years and certainly has resulted in fatalities in real life too often when pilots give up airspeed and control and too low of an altitude. The project underway helps to quantify when it is truly safe to do so. FSANA is sharing this with those who might be willing to help collect additional data for the project.

If a pilot loses power during takeoff, especially at a municipal airport, they instantly face two high-risk options. Glide forward and risk landing in the suburbs. Or turn back to the runway and risk not making it. Watch this interesting one-hour presentation on the topic of how a pilot can know what their best option is, regardless of the altitude it happens. You will see a demonstration of the Takeoff Advisor and learn more about the research project that is underway.

"The project is seeking additional flight data from pilots across the country to improve its analysis. If you would like to know if your plane could perform a turn back to the runway and would like to share your data with this project, Inflight Metrics will send you a visualization of your turnback and plots of your flight."

Want to help?

Visit https://www.inflightmetrics.com/ to take part in the project.

All current indications look like a very active hiring period is beginning at regional and major airlines as flight volumes come back to pre-COVID levels. With many major airlines having offered early retirement packages to senior pilots, they are going to need to backfill those positions from their own less-senior pilots, first-officers, and by hiring pilots away from regional carriers.

As the major airlines hire actively, with some estimates being that there will be upwards of 10,000 captain upgrades and hirings at the major airlines in the next 18-months taking place, the result will be active hiring of pilots away from regional carriers.

This means the regional carriers will be actively hiring again, with many of them already in the calling back pilots who were hired pre-COVID, starting new training classes, and actively recruiting from the instructor pool who has gained experience over the past 12-months are flight training providers around the United States.

The good news, there are a bunch of flight instructors who have been actively training students (many flight training providers kept going at high-activity levels) over the past year. So, they will be able to fill many of the seats they need to hire for in their upcoming training classes.

The bad news, they are going to steal (hire) many of the instructors who are working for flight training providers, leaving flight training providers needing to fill flight instructor job positions actively over the next year

There is a real concern, that was delayed over the last year, that is now going to again show for flight training providers as to how they are going to backfill their flight instructor positions.

We are very interested in this at FSANA and want feedback from members as this happens. Help share what you are doing to train new, recruit, and hire instructors as your staff transition to airline employment.

FSANA considers this a critical training infrastructure discussion. Without the human resources needed to train pilots, the overall pilot production pipeline is degraded. We are actively working to provide resources for retention of staff, best practices, and share experiences of others that can help manage this challenge as it develops, proceeds, and hopefully is managed as a flight training industry.

FSANA has been collecting DPE names who have expressed a willingness to travel to help flight training providers secure practical tests since our last newsletter.

This list is published on the FSANA website and is kept up-to-date with contact information, so if you are a flight training provider who is finding a challenge of scheduling DPEs in your local area, feel free to reach out to these individuals and you may be able to have them help serve some of your local testing needs.

This effort is being made in general, but also as many DPEs have self selected to delay a return to providing practical tests during the effects of COVID-19 periods and in some locations. FSANA will continue to hep provide this information as the flight training industry continues to move forward with both new and existing students in all phases of their training.

If you are a DPE who is not on this list but would like to be, please let us know by emailing us at info@fsana.com with your email and phone number and we will add you.

As the flight training industry moves forward amidst various COVID-19 effects, FSANA will continue to providelinks and resources that are useful for flight training providers.

At this time, the links and notifications below are some that we have found that may be of use depending on your operation and local restrictions that are in place.

CISA Updates memo to better include flight training

"Prohibiting certain flights (e.g., certain locations, types of aircraft, and types of operations): As is normally the case, actions such as these may violate Federal law and the airport’s grant assurances, unless approved in advance by the FAA (and, in some cases, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) as well). To seek such approval, the airport sponsor should contact the applicable FAA Airports District Office to discuss the matter."

The FAA has offered a deviation memo for FAA Part 141 training providers to better accommodate for distance learning in parts of the approved TCOs.

Visit the following link for regular updates to deviations and policies: