FAA withdraws medical denial policy proposal
Instead, FAA partners with AOPA, industry on pilot medical education campaign
The FAA announced during a meeting with aviation industry organizations on April 23 that it will not implement its proposed policy that would have replaced the longstanding practice of deferring incomplete medical applications with issuing immediate denials.
The change was announced in December and was initially supposed to take effect on January 1. AOPA, along with a number of other aviation industry organizations, said it would further complicate the medical certification process, impose unnecessary burdens on pilots, and potentially impact their job prospects.
During the meeting, acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said the proposal would not be implemented. Instead, the FAA agreed to work with AOPA and other organizations on a pilot medical education campaign to help applicants prepare for medical exams and reduce delays.
As a result, the organizations have released a comprehensive medical checklist with guidance on what documentation the FAA may require when submitting a medical application. This checklist will be included in AOPA’s ongoing communications and education efforts related to medical certification.
In addition, during the same meeting, Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Susan Northrup and Deputy Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Brett Wyrick announced a series of forthcoming reforms aimed at making the medical certification process more timely, consistent, and transparent, while also reducing delays for applicants.
First, updates to the FAA MedXPress system, the platform used to submit medical certificate applications, are in development and will provide clearer instructions for pilots. Additional future improvements will allow pilots and aviation medical examiners (AMEs) to upload and track cases more efficiently.
Second, as part of the pilot medical education campaign, the FAA is also working to develop simple instructions and FAQs for various medical conditions to help pilots better understand what documentation the FAA will need before they apply for a medical certificate. Northrup also mentioned, in response to a participant’s question, that the FAA may consider exploring the expansion of the Conditions AMEs Can Issue protocols, which enable AMEs to issue medical certificates for applicants with certain medical conditions.
Lastly, Northrup committed to reducing the wait times for pilots with deferred special issuance cases from an average of 155 days to 90 days over the next three years.
“We wholeheartedly support the FAA's decision to move away from the medical denial letter policy and instead work with AOPA and others to help educate and provide much needed medical exam guidance to new and existing pilots,” said AOPA President Darren Pleasance. “Dr. Northrup and her team are working to reduce delays in the FAA’s medical system and improve clarity and transparency in the application process—changes which are long overdue and which we very much support. Clear and detailed guidance on what medical documentation is required up front will help in reducing that burden."
In addition to these changes, AOPA is participating in an aerospace medical working group, which Congress mandated as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, focused on broader improvements to the medical certification process and addressing mental health issues among pilots.
Currently, the FAA receives more than 450,000 airman medical applications annually, 50,000 of which fall under special issuance categories. The FAA also said during the April 23 meeting that half of all applications—225,000—are delayed, often because they lack the necessary documentation, which can add up to eight weeks to the process.
