The flight training industry—and aviation as a whole—suffered a blow whose full ramifications still remain to be seen when on April 2, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit made its ruling on Warbird Adventures, Inc., et. al. v. FAA. The ruling declined to reverse an emergency cease-and-desist order meted out by the FAA in July 2020 barring Warbird Adventures, a Kissimmee, Florida-based boutique flight school, from providing flight instruction for compensation or hire in a dual control World War II P-40 fighter training aircraft certificated in the limited category.
An FAA and Federal Court Interpretation of the FARs Threatens Flight Instruction
Key Takeaways:
- A recent U.S. Appeals Court ruling redefined paid flight instruction as the "carriage of persons for compensation or hire," upholding an FAA cease-and-desist order against a flight school.
- This decision overturns decades of precedent that explicitly distinguished flight instruction from commercial air carrier operations, which historically allowed instructors to operate without requiring commercial-level certifications or adhering to air carrier rules.
- The ruling effectively renders all compensated flight training, as currently conducted, illegal, potentially requiring flight schools to obtain commercial air carrier certificates and invalidating many existing flight instructor qualifications.
- The reinterpretation has significant, industry-wide ramifications for aviation training, safety standards, and the fundamental structure of flight instruction in the U.S.
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