The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a final rule on January 18, 2023, extending the validity of aircraft registration from three to seven years. Effective January 23, 2023, all registration certificates are valid for a period of 7 years from the date of issuance. The final rule applies to both new and existing registration certificates. For example, a registration certificate issued in January 2023 is valid until January 2030, and a registration certificate previously issued in March 2020 is now valid until March 2027 rather than expiring this year.
John Waltz, VP of Technical services at The Wicks Group (TWG), notes that the final rule promotes a culture of safety. The rule promotes consistency in the area of aircraft registration, as registration certificates for noncommercial general aviation aircraft are already valid for seven years pursuant to the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. Extending the validity period for all aircraft registration certificates to 7 years effectively removes the distinction between commercial and noncommercial aircraft.
Prior to 2010, the validity period for aircraft registration was indefinite. As a result, emergency airworthiness directives (ADs) sent out by the FAA were often returned to sender due to a failure of aircraft owners to update their mailing address or to inform the FAA that the aircraft was no longer in service. In response, the FAA issued a final rule in 2010 mandating re-registry every three years. This decision resulted in a backlog of registrations to be processed. In 2018, Congress directed the FAA to extend the validity of registration certificates from three to seven years for noncommercial general aviation aircraft to ameliorate the problem of processing delays. The FAA has now opted to extend the registration duration for all aircraft to seven years.
Established in 1999 and based in Washington, DC, The Wicks Group has a lengthy record of providing technical assistance to civil aviation authorities (CAAs) worldwide, including but not limited to the CAAs of India, Panama, Cabo Verde, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Trinidad and Tobago. In all, ten FAA Category 1 ratings have been issued to TWG IASA technical assistance clients to date – a 100% track record. TWG also regularly assists foreign air carriers with obtaining the US government approvals needed for US air carrier operations and foreign repair stations with securing FAA certification required to maintain US-registered aircraft.
For more information about The Wicks Group, please contact Glenn Wicks at gpwicks@wicks-group.com.