Don’t Limit Your Training: FAA’s Stance on Flight School DPEs

‘Comprehensive training’ remains paramount, so a single Designated Pilot Examiner shouldn’t dictate your flight instruction.

Meg Godlewski

Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at 12:13 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Flight instructor and student inside small Piper aircraft [Credit: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

According to the FAA, flight schools should not tailor training to a specific Designated Pilot Examiner's (DPE) style, nor should they restrict a student's choice of DPE.
Flight training must be comprehensive, meeting or exceeding all FAA ACS/PTS standards to prepare students for safe flying, rather than just passing a practical test.
Schools may pursue "examining authority" to administer their own FAA-approved tests, which helps improve efficiency and prevents skill degradation that can occur during long waits for check rides with external DPEs.

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Question: The flight school I attend uses a particular Designated Pilot Examiner for the private pilot through commercial check rides. I wanted to go with another DPE who was recommended by a friend but was told that wasn’t possible, as the flight school only uses a particular DPE. Is it common for schools without examining authority to tailor students’ flight training to the testing style for preferred DPEs?

Answer: According to the FAA, “[agency] regulations are not designed to tailor flight training to a preferred DPE’s testing style. It is essential for pilot schools to ensure that students receive comprehensive training that meets or exceeds the applicable FAA ACS/PTS standards, aeronautical knowledge, flight proficiency, and aeronautical experience, and that best prepares them for safe flying beyond just passing the practical test.”

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The FAA notes that examining authority and using a DPE are different methods of airmen certification, as a flight school might pursue examining authority for efficiency and expediency of testing. As the goal of flight training is to achieve certification, it’s a bad deal when applicants have to wait weeks for a check ride, potentially facing a degradation in skills that might result in a failed test. Examining authority can help assuage this delay and skill fade.

“The FAA must approve tests that pilot schools administer, and the tests must be at least equal in scope, depth, and difficulty to the comparable practical tests that the FAA prescribes,” the agency notes.

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