TSA publishes final rule on Flight Training Security Program improvements

For the first time since its creation in 2004, the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Flight Training Security Program is getting an overhaul.

As published in the Federal Register this week, TSA plans to update the program for efficacy and efficiency, including the security threat assessment process for flight training students. Currently, potential trainees need to apply for and pay fees for each training they wish to attend. The final rule published this week would alter that arrangement to a time-based one, where vetted, eligible applicants will earn Certificates of Eligibility, pay one-time fees, and train as often as desired in a five-year period.

TSA will conduct recurring vetting of students to keep an eye on any new information that could affect their flight training eligibility.

This program focuses on flight training providers, who provide training to all flight students, barring foreign military pilots. Proposed changes should, according to the TSA, improve administration and efficiency among both flight training candidates and providers, and is only possible in part thanks to technology improvements to the FBI’s arrest and prosecution background program.

When the rule takes effect on July 30, 2024, TSA hopes it will reduce delays, improve tracking candidate training events, and make security threat awareness of various candidates more conveyable between providers. Until it takes effect though, all requirements and existing processes of current regulations remain the law of the land.

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