Proficiency Check (LPC / IPC)

A proficiency check is the recurring evaluation that validates a pilot's continued competence on a specific rating. In EASA Part-FCL, the Licence Proficiency Check (LPC) revalidates ratings such as Instrument, Type, and Multi-Engine on a defined cycle (typically annually for IR/TR, every two years for class ratings). In the FAA system, the closest equivalents are the Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) under §61.57, required when a pilot's instrument currency lapses, and recurrent training events for Part 135 and Part 121 operators.

A proficiency check is conducted by an authorized examiner — a Type Rating Examiner (TRE), Class Rating Examiner (CRE), or Flight Instructor authorized for the IPC — and covers a defined set of maneuvers, procedures, and emergencies. The check is not a re-test of the original skill test in full, but a targeted evaluation of the skills most prone to decay between revalidation events.

For commercial operators, proficiency checks are tied to operating manuals and SMS programs — the operator commits in its OM to specific recurrent training and checking cycles, and the regulator audits against that commitment. For training operators, proficiency checks intersect with instructor authorization: a flight examiner's authority itself has currency requirements, including a minimum number of checks conducted annually.

Proficiency check tracking is a recurring source of compliance risk. A type-rated pilot whose LPC has lapsed by even one day is, in regulatory terms, no longer authorized on that aircraft — and in audit terms, every flight conducted after the lapse is a finding. Schools and operators tracking these dates on spreadsheets or in dispatcher memory routinely discover lapses retroactively, which is the worst possible time.

The second challenge is logistics. Proficiency checks require the right pilot, the right examiner, the right aircraft (or qualifying simulator), and a coherent block of time. Coordinating these across a roster of 50 instructors and a fleet of 15 aircraft, while keeping the operation running, is a scheduling problem that defeats most general-purpose calendars.

Aviatize's compliance and auditing module tracks every pilot's rating-by-rating proficiency check history and projects the next due date automatically. Alerts fire well before expiry, with escalating urgency as the deadline approaches, and the validation engine refuses to dispatch a pilot for a flight that would require a lapsed rating.

For training operators, Aviatize's planning module treats proficiency checks as scheduled events alongside regular training, integrating examiner availability, qualifying simulator slots, and pilot availability into a single bookable resource view. The result is that recurrent checking happens on schedule rather than as a last-minute scramble — and, just as importantly, that revenue-producing training capacity is not displaced unexpectedly by overdue compliance work.