The FAA has once again postponed proposed changes to the airman medical certification process that, if implemented, would lead to a significant increase in pilot medical denials.
In 2024, FAA officials proposed ending its longstanding practice of deferring incomplete medical applications to instead issuing immediate denials while providing steps for reconsideration. These changes were scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
A coalition of aviation organizations told FAA Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Susan Northrup that any denials could cause unintended consequences and increase complexity for applicants, according to officials with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). That led the proposed changes to be delayed until March 1, 2025.
On Feb. 28, the FAA announced it would again delay the implementation of the proposed denial policy and instead hold a listening session to “get feedback from stakeholders before making any decisions,” according to an FAA statement. The listening session is scheduled for April 23, 2025, at the FAA headquarters building in Washington, D.C.
FAA officials noted they will provide additional information on how to attend in person and remotely “in the coming weeks.”
“We appreciate the FAA’s efforts to seek additional input from AOPA and others,” said AOPA President and CEO Darren Pleasance. “Our goal is to help pilots by working with the FAA to make the medical certification process more efficient while eliminating unnecessary burdens on applicants. At the same time, AOPA will continue its efforts to help modernize the FAA’s medical processes and systems, which are long overdue.”
With arguably a few specific exceptions (COPD and high altitudes for example) the FAA shouldn’t be involved in medical certification of private pilots.
The evidence shows quite clearly that a driver license and self-declaration are enough. The FAA should be focusing its limited resources on keeping airline travel safe, not finding legalistic ways to ground weekend pilots while imposing enormous unnecessary medical testing costs and lengthy delays.
The FAA should do itself a favor and establish a policy that it will issue a 3rd class medical to anyone who has a current US driver license and makes a self-declaration relating to a limited number of conditions that could be affected by altitude or motion – and then focus its resources on actually processing medical certificates for professional pilots and modernizing its airworthiness processes.
Maybe if they tried to simplify the forms and procedures there might be fewer incomplete forms submitted? Recall that we lowly pilots only see these forms once every couple of years, and they do change from time to time. Gee, I’m sorry I forgot to dot this “i”, so how many months will it take for the corrected form to rise to the top of the pile and maybe I can fly again?
The “immediate denial” mindset is punitive and does not improve aviation safety. What’s next, are they going to confiscate our airplanes if there are minor discrepancies at annual?
What a novel idea…to lead with “Listening Sessions” before making a landmark decision…