What FAA and Community Leaders Have Hinted About the Ruling’s Timeline

With the EAA’s latest Oshkosh Airventure quickly closing in, there’s one big question on the minds of general aviation’s pilots and aspiring aviators: Will we be getting MOSAIC as expected, or just more of the FAA’s vague hints regarding the ruling’s future?

For those who aren’t quite clear, the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) rule significantly expands the pool of aircraft types that are classified as light sport aircraft (LSA). The current regulation limits LSAs to several hard-to-meet criteria, the primary being a maximum takeoff weight of 1,320 lbs, two seats, and one engine.

MOSAIC would shift limitations to a performance-based scale, allowing sport pilots to fly a much wider, safer range of aircraft without the costly extra training. This is the kind of accessibility booster that the general aviation community has been vibrantly pushing for over the past several years.

So, the hard part, obviously, hasn’t been garnering pilots' support for MOSAIC. However, the ruling has seemingly been stuck in limbo since the FAA’s initial Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in mid-2023.

Many thought the rule’s structure would be complete, or at least close to it, during last year’s EAA Oshkosh Airventure. Rulemakers had a different plan, taking the stage merely to say the same thing we all knew: MOSAIC is coming… at some point.

The topic was again discussed at this year’s SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo by a panel of general aviation leadership, including representatives from a number of the alphabet groups. They expect the FAA to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) with an effective date of approximately 30 days, rather than the 60-day maximum. While the regulation could be published as soon as May, panelists explained that it would likely debut closer to August, especially with the FAA still running headless.

None of this means that the new FAA administrator won’t pick up the microphone to tell us a solid timeline for the enactment of MOSAIC at the 2025 AirVenture, but it does suggest that we should keep our hopes low, for the time being.

FMI: www.faa.gov