The FAA is reportedly open to exploring ways to restore single-pilot operations in legacy Cessna Citation models after the agency halted them in September and rescinded exemptions.
“We believe that there’s some compelling data that might provide a path to allowing single-pilot operations with some training, with an STC,” Kristie Greco Johnson, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Business Aviation Association, told FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford at the group’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas.
A supplemental type certificate (STC) authorizes a major modification or repair to an already type-certified aircraft. Bedford replied that the STC approach is worthy of further examination.
According to digital news outlet AeroTime, he also defended the FAA’s decision to withdraw the exemptions, which cited safety concerns and a 2024 review that “revealed widespread noncompliance with the exemptions.”
“In order to achieve any exemption, the FAA asks one question: Can we find an alternative that will give us an equivalent level of safety?” Bedford said. “If we can’t get to at least an equivalent level of safety, we shouldn’t be entertaining it.”
Neither Bedford nor the FAA has announced a timeline for restoring single-pilot privileges. But the administrator’s remarks indicate that it is a possibility.
Potential Work-Around
Exemptions have historically been a tool the FAA uses to permit single-pilot operations with certain aircraft certified for two pilots. Temporary or conditional waivers can be issued if the operator completes specialized training programs and logbook endorsements.
The agency began granting single-pilot exemptions for Citation aircraft in 1984, many of them to training providers under 14 CFR Parts 61, 141, and 142.
However, the FAA in September said the exemptions pose a safety oversight issue, as a pilot exercising relief granted to a training provider may be unaware of when it expires. The agency also found that some non-exemption holders were offering training under another entity’s exemption.
The use of an STC to enable single-pilot operations is rare but would not be impossible. The certificate holder would need to prove that a single pilot could handle the total workload typically assigned to two pilots during all phases of flight. This could be achieved through additional pilot training and aircraft modifications or upgrades, proposals that Bedford said he would consider.
At the same time, the STC process could place a prohibitive burden on manufacturers and training providers that would need to pay for the modifications, perhaps including cockpit automation, and additional training. Already Transport Canada has taken that route, including for Citation aircraft.
“In order to permit single-pilot operation of the Cessna Models 500, 550, S550, 552 and 560, the FAA has chosen to grant exemptions to operating rules rather than revise the certification basis,” the regulator wrote in a 1997 airworthiness notice. “Transport Canada has chosen to grant the airworthiness certification for single-pilot operation through the Supplemental Type Approval process with operational and licensing requirements being addressed in accordance with existing regulations.”
Why the FAA Banned Citation Single-Pilot Operations
On September 29, the FAA said it would rescind and cease issuing single-pilot exemptions and immediately require two-pilot operations for the following aircraft originally certified for two-pilot crews under Part 25:
- Citation and Citation I (Model 500)
- Citation II (Model 550)
- Citation S/II (Model S550)
- Navy T-47A (Model 552)
- Citation V and Citation Ultra (Model 560)
- Bravo (Model 550)
- Encore (Model 560)
- Encore+ (Model 560)
The decision caused confusion among operators and industry associations, as many of these aircraft since the 1980s have regularly operated with a single pilot. AeroTime reported that about 1,250 U.S.-registered Citation models are covered by the policy. The change does not impact single-pilot operations of Citation jets certified as single-pilot aircraft.
The NBAA was among stakeholders to question the FAA’s decision. It issued a joint statement with the Citation Jet Pilots (CJP) association, which submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to examine the data the agency used in its analysis of single-pilot Citation incidents.
The FAA in its notice said it found the accident rate for Part 25 CE-500 aircraft operated by a single pilot to be twice that of Part 23 CE-500, 510, and 525 aircraft flown with a single pilot.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association also decried the FAA’s decision. AOPA said that its Air Safety Institute (ASI) was working to duplicate the results and conclusions the FAA reached.
In a letter to Bedford, David Boulter, AOPA’s vice president of regulatory affairs, called the agency’s decision “all or nothing” and said it “makes no sense to punish compliant and safe operators with this order.” Boulter asked the FAA to “immediately halt” the total denial of exemptions and rescind them only for operators who do not meet required standards.
The FAA said it revoked single-pilot exemptions for 13 out of 14 Part 61 exemption holders that it investigated due to various noncompliance issues.
“Any deficiencies in operations under this exemption should have been identified and corrected long before such drastic action, without industry collaboration, was taken,” Boulter concluded.
The rule change followed high-profile crashes involving Citation aircraft, one of which killed former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and six others. The retired airline pilot involved in that incident—which the FAA cited—flew without a qualified copilot despite lacking a single-pilot exemption. Still, the FAA cited it in its decision.
National Transportation Safety Board investigations of the accidents cited by the FAA remain open and have not determined probable cause.
