FAR Part 65 — Certification: Airmen Other Than Flight Crewmembers

14 CFR Part 65 is the FAA's comprehensive certification standard for aviation professionals who are essential to the aviation system but who do not serve as flight crewmembers. The regulation is organized into six subparts, each establishing a distinct certificate class with its own eligibility criteria, examination structure, and operational privileges and limitations.

Subpart D — Mechanics — is the subpart most directly relevant to flight school and maintenance operations. §65.71 sets eligibility for the Airframe (A) and Powerplant (P) ratings that together constitute the A&P certificate: an applicant must be at least 18 years old, be able to read, write, speak, and understand English, and demonstrate either 18 months of practical experience for a single rating or 30 months of practical experience working concurrently on both airframe and powerplant, or graduation from a Part 147 Aviation Maintenance Technician School (AMTS). §§65.75 through 65.85 govern the examination sequence: a written test (administered at FAA-approved testing centers on an oral examination basis), an oral test covering the applicant's practical knowledge, and a practical test demonstrating hands-on proficiency. The FAA's Airmen Certification Standards (ACS) for mechanics document the standards examiners apply. An A&P mechanic may perform and approve the return to service of maintenance within the scope of their ratings under Part 43, but may not perform annual inspections without an Inspection Authorization.

§65.87 establishes the Inspection Authorization (IA) — a separate privilege granted to mechanics who already hold an A&P certificate with both ratings and who meet additional requirements: at least 3 years of active civilian aircraft maintenance experience, a fixed base of operation, and access to adequate inspection facilities and equipment. §§65.91 through 65.95 govern IA eligibility in detail and, critically, the annual renewal requirement: an IA must be renewed each calendar year by the FSDO of jurisdiction, and renewal is conditioned on demonstrating active use of the authorization and completing a specified refresher activity. Failure to renew converts an active IA holder to a plain A&P — who cannot sign off annual inspections — until the IA is reinstated.

Subpart C — Aircraft Dispatchers — governs the dispatch certificate required for personnel who issue dispatch releases for Part 121 air carrier operations. Under §121.595, a Part 121 dispatch release must be signed by both the PIC and the aircraft dispatcher — creating joint legal authority and joint responsibility for the safety of the flight. §§65.51 through 65.63 set the eligibility, knowledge test (the Aircraft Dispatcher Knowledge Test, formerly the "dispatcher written"), practical examination, and qualification requirements. A dispatcher certificate issued under Part 65 is the only authorization recognized for this joint-authority role at U.S. air carriers.

Subpart B — Air Traffic Control Tower Operators — covers certificated individuals who operate non-FAA control towers, primarily FAA Contract Tower (FCT) program facilities operated by private contractors under FAA contract. While the vast majority of ATC services are provided by FAA employees (not certificated under Part 65), approximately 260 low-activity airports participate in the FCT program, and the controllers at those facilities must be certificated under Subpart B. §65.46 establishes the written and practical examination requirements; §65.47 sets current experience requirements that must be maintained. Subpart E — Repairmen — covers mechanics employed by certificated repair stations (Part 145) or air carriers who perform specific maintenance tasks within the employer's operations. Unlike the A&P, a repairman certificate is employer-specific and non-transferable: it authorizes the holder to perform only the specific tasks for which they were certificated at that specific employer. Subpart F — Parachute Riggers — governs parachute packing, including emergency parachutes carried on certain aircraft under §91.307.

For flight schools operating their own maintenance department, Part 65 defines the entire credential hierarchy that determines who can perform what work. The A&P is the frontline credential that authorizes day-to-day maintenance under Part 43; the IA — issued under §65.87 and renewed annually under §65.95 — is the mandatory additional authorization for annual inspections. A school that employs an A&P-only mechanic (without an IA) cannot conduct annual inspections in-house; it must either employ an IA holder or outsource annual inspections to a repair station or another IA, which has direct cost and scheduling implications for fleet availability.

The IA renewal cycle creates a recurring administrative obligation that directly affects maintenance department capability. FSDO renewal requires a formal application, verification of qualifying activities, and in some cases an FSDO interview. If a school's sole IA holder fails to renew by the December 31 calendar-year deadline, the school enters January without the ability to sign off annual inspections — a lapse that can strand aircraft at the beginning of the flight training year. Tracking IA renewal deadlines alongside A&P certification status is therefore a genuine operational risk management function for any school running its own maintenance.

Aviatize's compliance and auditing module maintains a credential registry for all maintenance staff, tracking each technician's A&P certificate number, ratings held, IA authorization status, and IA renewal deadline. The platform generates calendar-year renewal reminders well in advance of the December 31 deadline, ensuring the maintenance manager can initiate the FSDO renewal process with adequate lead time. A&P certificate expiration (which does not expire per se, but whose holder's active qualifications must be current) and IA renewal status are surfaced in the compliance dashboard so gaps in authorization coverage are visible at a glance before they create operational disruptions.

The training management module also tracks Part 65 qualification pathways for schools that prepare candidates for the A&P certificate — recording theory instruction hours, practical experience hours, and test completion milestones against the §65.71 eligibility requirements. For dispatchers at combined operations, the platform records dispatch certificate numbers, currency of dispatch training, and continuing qualification events that airlines require internally beyond the minimum §65.51 statutory requirements.