The FAA published a notice of availability on September 18, 2026 for Revision E to Order 8000.95, Individual Designee Management Policy — and the notice reveals something the order itself doesn’t: the agency backed off several proposals after receiving 234 public comments, many of them warning that the changes would make the Designated Pilot Examiner shortage worse. The proposed requirement that DPEs log five hours of PIC time in every single-engine make and model before giving a practical test was narrowed to apply only to turbine-powered aircraft and those with Simplified Flight Controls. A proposed prohibition on collecting fees before determining applicant eligibility was dropped from the order. And a limit of one initial CFI practical test per day was revised to permit same-day retests and continuations.
For an industry that named examiner availability its top challenge of 2026, that’s a meaningful set of outcomes — and a case study in why comment periods matter.
How This Became a Full Revision
The FAA originally proposed a narrower change. Order 8000.95D, Change 1 was published for public comment from November 24, 2025 through January 23, 2026.
The response was substantial: 234 comments from educational institutions, industry associations, air carriers, commercial operators, and individuals. Organizations that filed included AOPA, EAA, the National Association of Flight Instructors, the Society of Aviation & Flight Educators, the National Flight Training Alliance, the Minnesota Pilots Association, Utah State University, Boeing, Gulfstream, United Airlines, the Aviation Suppliers Association, and a long list of flight schools — Angel City Flyers, Beech Training, Chickasha Wings, Magnolia Aviation, Palouse Pilot Training, SoCo Flight Ops, Three Rivers Aero, and Vapor Global Aviation among them.
The volume and scope of changes led the FAA to conclude that a comprehensive revision was warranted rather than a change document. That’s how Change 1 became Revision E, effective September 15, 2026.
The revision’s underlying purpose is the transition from the Designee Registration System to the Designee Management System (DMS), aligning the order with DMS workflows and updating automation for registering, enrolling, tracking, and recording designee training. It also changes the algorithm governing how frequently Flight Standards managing specialists must conduct direct observation oversight.
The Five-Hour Make-and-Model Requirement
This was the fight that drew the broadest opposition, and the industry largely won it.
What was proposed: DPEs would have been required to log at least five hours of PIC flight time in each make and model before administering a practical test in Airplane Single Engine Land or Airplane Single Engine Sea.
Why the industry objected: Commenters — including examiner and instructor associations, flight schools, and individual DPEs — argued the requirement was operationally burdensome, would further constrain examiner availability, and would worsen checkride delays, with particular impact on experimental and less common aircraft types.
They also made a pointed regulatory argument: the existing framework already ensures examiner proficiency through category and class experience requirements, recent flight experience, and FAA oversight. Commenters noted that no safety data was presented to justify a five-hour make-and-model threshold, and that such a threshold isn’t a standard measure of proficiency anywhere else in FAA policy.
What the FAA did: removed the fee collection restriction from Order 8000.95E, noting that fee policy is governed by Order 8900.1, Volume 5, Chapter 2, Section 1, paragraph 5-222, which remains in effect.
That detail matters more than it looks. Paragraph 5-222 lays out the pretest briefing every evaluator must give, and its sequence is explicit: advise the applicant of fees and possible outcomes, determine that the applicant is eligible, and then — “once eligibility is determined” — collect the fee and begin the test. In other words, the order no longer carries its own restriction, but the collect-after-eligibility sequence in 8900.1 is unchanged. The practical problem AOPA and NAFI raised, examiners going uncompensated for preparation and travel when an applicant turns out to be ineligible, has not been resolved by this revision.
The Fee Collection Restriction
What was proposed: examiners would have been prohibited from collecting any fee before determining an applicant’s eligibility.
Why the industry objected: AOPA and NAFI, among others, pointed out the practical consequence — an examiner who prepares for a test and travels to meet an applicant who then turns out to be ineligible would be left uncompensated for that time and expense.
They separately raised the absence of a definition for “reasonable fee,” warning that without one, the standard could be applied inconsistently, generate complaints, and potentially expose examiners to termination based on subjective judgments about what’s reasonable.
What the FAA did: removed the fee collection restriction from Order 8000.95E. Fee policy remains governed by Order 8900.1, Volume 5, Chapter 2, Section 1, paragraph 5-222, which stays in effect.
On the “reasonable fee” definition, the FAA declined — determining that a specific definition falls outside the scope of this revision, while acknowledging it as an area for future consideration and discussion.
That leaves the ambiguity unresolved. For examiners, the practical risk of a subjective reasonableness standard persists; for applicants, so does the absence of a benchmark. It’s a live issue with an explicit FAA signal that it may be revisited.
The Initial CFI Test Limit
What was proposed: examiners would be limited to accepting one initial CFI application per day, with the limit counting retests and continuations of previously discontinued or unsuccessful exams.
Why the industry objected: commenters noted that retests and continuations typically require less time and effort than a full initial CFI practical test, and that counting them against the daily limit would further reduce examiner availability and increase certification delays.
What the FAA did: accepted the recommendation. The limit now applies only to complete initial CFI practical tests. The restriction on conducting retests or continuations on the same day as a full exam was removed.
Practically, that means an examiner who discontinues a CFI practical test in the morning can complete it that afternoon alongside another full exam — rather than scheduling the applicant weeks out.
What the FAA Rejected
Two proposals didn’t survive:
Automatic pre-approval for ministerial functions. The Aviation Suppliers Association asked the FAA to streamline oversight by pre-approving lower-risk designee functions such as issuing FAA Form 8130-3 airworthiness approval tags. The FAA rejected it, stating the policy intentionally gives Managing Specialists discretion to evaluate designees and situations based on risk, and that the risk-based approach remains unchanged.
Eliminating the designee system. One commenter argued that designated representatives for flight testing should be replaced by inherently governmental functions. The FAA rejected this as well, describing Designated Engineering Representatives and other designees as a critical component of the certification system and stating there are no plans to discontinue their use.
The FAA also incorporated numerous editorial corrections submitted by commenters — typographical errors and inaccurate cross-references to paragraphs, regulations, and other FAA policy.
Why This Matters
Three takeaways beyond the specific provisions.
The comment process worked. On each of the three proposals with direct examiner-availability consequences, the FAA modified its position in response to industry input. That outcome came from organizations and individual DPEs taking the time to file substantive comments during a two-month window — 234 of them, many from small flight schools with no regulatory affairs staff.
The availability argument landed. The strongest thread across the objections wasn’t that the proposals were unreasonable in principle; it was that they would reduce the supply of examiner time in a system where examiner availability is already the binding constraint. Redbird’s State of Flight Training 2026 report found DPE issues ranked as the number one challenge for both flight training organizations and independent instructors. The FAA’s willingness to narrow, remove, and soften provisions on those grounds suggests the agency is treating examiner capacity as a real consideration.
“Reasonable fee” remains unfinished business. The FAA explicitly flagged it for future consideration. Examiners operating without a defined standard, and applicants without a benchmark, should expect this to resurface.
The Bottom Line
Revision E to FAA Order 8000.95 took effect September 15, 2026, with the notice of availability published September 18. Its core purpose is the transition to the Designee Management System, but the substantive story is what changed between proposal and final policy.
The five-hour make-and-model requirement for DPEs was narrowed to turbine and Simplified Flight Control aircraft only. The proposed fee restriction was dropped from the order, but existing 8900.1 guidance still sequences fee collection after the eligibility determination. The one-initial-CFI-test-per-day limit no longer counts retests and continuations. Ministerial function pre-approval and elimination of the designee system were both rejected.
For a flight training industry waiting on checkrides, the meaningful outcome is that the provisions most likely to constrain examiner availability didn’t make it into final policy — because 234 people said so.
The order is available at faa.gov under orders and notices, on the Dynamic Regulatory System, and in docket FAA-2025-1218.
Frequently Asked Questions
What changed between the proposed and final version of FAA Order 8000.95E? The FAA modified several proposals after receiving 234 public comments. The requirement that DPEs log five hours of PIC time in each single-engine make and model was narrowed to apply only to turbine-powered aircraft and those with Simplified Flight Controls. The prohibition on collecting fees before determining applicant eligibility was removed. The limit of one initial CFI practical test per day was revised so it no longer counts retests or continuations. The FAA rejected proposals for automatic pre-approval of ministerial designee functions and for eliminating the designee system.
Do DPEs need five hours in every make and model now? No. The final policy requires five hours of PIC flight time in the specific make and model only before administering a practical test in a single-engine airplane that is turbine-powered or equipped with Simplified Flight Controls. The broader requirement covering all single-engine airplanes, which had been proposed, was not adopted after commenters argued it would constrain examiner availability and worsen checkride delays without supporting safety data.
Can examiners collect fees before confirming an applicant is eligible? Not under current guidance for the practical test fee. The proposed restriction was removed from Order 8000.95E, but the FAA noted that fee policy is governed by Order 8900.1, Volume 5, Chapter 2, Section 1, paragraph 5-222, which remains in effect. That paragraph’s pretest briefing sequence directs the evaluator to determine eligibility first and then collect the fee. Examiners with questions about how this applies to their own fee structure should check with their managing specialist.
Did the FAA define what a “reasonable fee” is for a checkride? No. Commenters including AOPA and the National Association of Flight Instructors raised concerns that the absence of a definition could lead to inconsistent application, complaints, and potential examiner termination based on subjective determinations. The FAA determined that providing a specific definition falls outside the scope of this revision, while acknowledging it as an area for future consideration and discussion.
How many initial CFI practical tests can an examiner conduct per day? The policy limits examiners to one complete initial CFI practical test per day. However, following public comment, the FAA removed the restriction that would have counted retests and continuations of previously discontinued or unsuccessful exams against that limit. Commenters noted retests and continuations generally require less time than a full initial CFI exam, and that counting them would have further reduced examiner availability.
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