FAA Close to Enacting Re-registration Policy for Aircraft

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The FAA proposes a new rule requiring aircraft owners to re-register their aircraft every three years, potentially starting this fall.
  • This change aims to update the national aircraft registry and remove an estimated 104,000 inactive or invalid aircraft from the current 343,000 registered.
  • The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is concerned about potential re-registration fees and has proposed an alternative online plan using the existing Triennial Aircraft Registration Report.
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As soon as this fall, owners could be required to re-register their aircraft with the FAA every three years. The current policy is a one-time registration with a five-dollar fee. The fee for re-registration, if any, has yet to be announced. The re-registration strategy was first proposed two years ago as a means of updating the list of registered aircraft and culling out those that no longer are active. The FAA claims that 104,000 of the currently registered 343,000 aircraft are possibly invalid. If the new rule goes into effect, all owners would have to re-register their aircraft within a three-month window based on the month of their original registration. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, concerned that fees for re-registering aircraft might be an undue burden on owners, has proposed an online re-registration plan through the existing Triennial Aircraft Registration Report that would serve the same purpose.

Mark Phelps

Mark Phelps is a senior editor at AVweb. He is an instrument rated private pilot and former owner of a Grumman American AA1B and a V-tail Bonanza.

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