AOPA advocates in the halls of Congress and across the nation to keep general aviation accessible to all. Here’s a look back at what we accomplished in 2024.
The FAA on December 18 announced a two-month delay implementing a controversial new policy to deny rather than defer medical certificate applications deemed incomplete.
A coalition of pilot advocates and unions asked the federal air surgeon to put on hold a policy change set to take effect in January that would lead to a significant increase in medical certificate denials and consider scrapping the new policy altogether.
While the FAA has reported progress in reversing the yearslong shortage of designated pilot examiners, many pilots still struggle to schedule a checkride at an affordable price, and wait times are all too often measured in months. Congress has given the FAA additional directives to fix the problem.
The latest FAA reauthorization act has expanded the privileges of BasicMed. Because that will increase the number of pilots who will utilize it, I wanted to review the steps to complete BasicMed.
AOPA and the aviation industry celebrate the long-awaited passage of the five-year FAA bill, which authorizes an increase in funding for general aviation airports, expands BasicMed, modernizes FAA systems, and much more.
Anyone who has gone through the FAA’s onerous process to obtain a discretionary special issuance medical certificate knows that the special issuance comes with strings attached—continuing obligations to obtain and provide medical evaluations, reports, and records.
BasicMed is one of AOPA and general aviation’s greatest achievements in the past several decades. BasicMed has freed many pilots from the cumbersome medical certification process. But despite its potential, BasicMed is still poorly understood.
A recent change to the FAA policy regarding attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) will ease the medical certification burden for many pilots with a history that includes this diagnosis.
The FAA responded to an AOPA request by offering a path to reconciliation for military veterans who may not have reported receiving Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability benefits on their pilot medical certificate application.
An FAA report submitted to Congress (as required) on March 10 reviewed three years of general aviation data and concluded that the BasicMed program is safe.
The FAA concurred with AOPA and individuals who supported a rulemaking proposal that enables pilots who medically qualify under BasicMed to act as required crewmembers other than pilot in command—more specifically as safety pilots.
In a letter sent to Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen and Canada's Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra, AOPA President Mark Baker and James Ferrier, interim president and CEO of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association, requested that pilots from the United States be able to enter Canadian airspace while flying under BasicMed privileges.
The FAA has added a new feature to its online MedXPress process, allowing pilots to track their medical applications in real time—a welcome sign that the agency is working to modernize its outdated systems.
AOPA submitted comments on January 18 supporting the FAA’s proposal to expand BasicMed for those who want to serve as safety pilots and to change medical certificate requirements for individuals completing medical flight tests.
In the publishing world, the term “evergreen” refers to a topic that is timely regardless of when it’s published or read. One of the current evergreen topics is BasicMed, which we have written often about since it became law five years ago.
After championing the decades-long push for long-overdue medical certification reform, AOPA released a report on how BasicMed has kept safe pilots flying and free from unnecessary red tape and delays over the past five years.
The FAA on March 26 released much-anticipated guidance to aviation medical examiners about how to handle medical certificate applications from pilots and air traffic control specialists who have had confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Bringing more people into aviation by reminding them why you fly, inviting the public to visit airports, and engaging teens in aviation-related high school curriculum are three key ways to expand the general aviation community, AOPA President Mark Baker said March 9 during a livestreamed town hall.
More than three years after its launch, it’s safe to say that BasicMed is a resounding success. Just ask the more than 60,000 aviators already flying safely under the program’s medical privileges.
A very large percentage of calls to the Pilot Information Center continue to be about BasicMed as an alternative to the conventional medical certification process.
A panel of medical experts that has helped AOPA accomplish major advocacy goals in the past will weigh in once more in 2020 as we urge the FAA to act on key proposals to modernize and streamline the medical certification process for pilots.
May 1 marks the third anniversary of the BasicMed program, and for thousands of general aviation pilots flying under the program’s medical privileges, it has been a resounding success.