Society of Educators Not Enthralled by Current NPRM

The FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking surrounding Certified Flight Instructor changes has not won over our friends at the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators, who say it fails to address a few key aspects while creating a permanent CFI certificate.

As the gatekeepers of all future, high-level aviation, CFI standards must be strict in weeding out the dangerous, the incompetent, and the lackadaisical. The new system, however, is “only designed to save the FAA big bucks while continuing the same mind-numbing Flight Instructor Refresher Courses”. Writing for the group, master CFI, DPE, and ATP David St. George said that FIIRCs can be a “good tool for an inactive CFI to retain privileges, but certainly misses many opportunities to improve and advance our aviation industry.”
The examination to pass a CFI for both initial and recurrent training has long served its purpose for the industry, he notes, but failed to build on top of the base level CFI ticket like other industries. The most interest shown in the practice is the Gold Seal program, something St. George said is “clearly a one-off token”. Even though the FAA did not provide more in-depth training or certification to separate the garden-variety CFI from a Master Craftsman of the aeronautical arts, the industry stepped up in a private capacity, he adds. Sandy and JoAnn Hill’s Master Instructor Program began more than a quarter century ago, immediately gaining support in the FAA. The program granted credit for CFI renewal to all Master Instructors not long after its creation…until FAA lawyers ended that benefit. St. George sees a worthy tool laying unappreciated here, saying the “current NPRM is an opportunity to restore and expand this worthy privilege.”

Additionally, he adds, there are “many very qualified senior CFIs who no longer teach primary flight training but focus on advanced or transition training” throughout all levels of the industry. Such professionals are ripe for CFI renewal, he said.

“If we apply an expanded version of the FAA concepts of “equivalent level of safety” or “accepted means of compliance” (airworthiness) there is a whole category of advanced CFI activities that need to be recognized for renewal. These could be written into the new CFR 61.197 or listed in the existing FAA WINGS program. Our aviation industry desperately needs to motivate and inspire committed professional CFIs to stay in flight training.”

Of course, SAFE has its own offering to the industry, too. In keeping with its aim to create better, brighter flight educators it proposes that alumni of its SAFE CFI-PRO course would be qualified for CFI renewal.

Finally, SAFE takes issue with the NPRM’s proposition to reduce the qualifications needed for initial instructor ratings, calling it a lowering of the bar to “avoid increasing the scarcity of qualified educators.” Somewhat concerning, St. George notes, is that “2/3rds of ‘active CFIs’ have been taught for less than a year”. Further reductions in educational standards for CFI educators is, of course, a no-go for SAFE.

FMI: www.safeblog.org