Industry recommendations for Part 141 overhaul released

The initial response from some in the industry is to seek more time to digest and comment on the NFTA report posted April 1 with an April 10 deadline to comment on the report, which will inform the FAA's internal deliberations and the creation of a rulemaking proposal that will be subject to additional comment. The Flight School Association International (formerly the Flight School Association of North America) sent an email blast April 3 (and re-sent on April 4), calling on members to request a 120-day extension of the deadline to comment on the 471-page report.

"While there is good work that has been done in this report with input from industry representatives and participants, there are also a number of potential concerns, issues, workarounds, carve-outs for special interests, and attempts to turn our pilot training process away from external validation through entities such as [designated pilot examiners] by pushing internal self-examining authority in many places," FSAI wrote. "There is also potential to reduce the total experience requirements for entering airline service below the current R-ATP minimums for 'qualifying training providers.'"

Current and annotated revisions of a potential draft Part 141 regulation account for the majority of the pages in the report, which summarizes the industry input gathered over 12 months beginning in March 2025. Eight "principal recommendations" include establishment of a centralized management office within the FAA that is responsible for school certification; implementing safety management systems and quality management systems; modernization of school management, oversight, and documentation; development of consensus standards; reform of pilot examination authority; expanded use of flight simulation technology; modernizing course appendices; and replacing the provisional pilot school designation with a registered pilot school designation.

"The recommendations contained in this report are not incremental adjustments to an aging system. They represent a deliberate, comprehensive reimagining of how the United States trains its pilots, one that positions this nation to reclaim and strengthen its role as the global leader in aviation training excellence," NFTA wrote in the executive summary.

Comments on the report can be submitted online through April 10 (or later if the deadline is extended). AOPA participated in the various meetings held to collect input from the flight training industry, and plans to submit comments on the report.