FAA Signals Openness to Supplemental Certification Path for Single-Pilot Citations

The FAA's ban on single-pilot exemptions for older Cessna Citation jets takes effect September 29, 2026 — but Administrator Bryan Bedford says he is willing to scrutinize a certification route that could bring those operations back.

Speaking at the opening of the Meet the Regulators session at NBAA-BACE 2026 in Las Vegas, Bedford responded to a proposal from NBAA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Kristie Greco Johnson, who led the one-on-one conversation. She raised the possibility of additional training paired with a supplemental type certificate as a way forward for affected operators.

Bedford called the supplemental certification approach "an interesting process" and "worthy of scrutiny," while defending the agency's decision to withdraw the exemptions that previously permitted single-pilot flights in aircraft whose operating limitations otherwise require two pilots.

Any alternative, he made clear, faces a hard test: "If we can't get to at least an equivalent level of safety, we shouldn't be entertaining it," Bedford said.

What does the new policy change?

The FAA's policy, effective September 29, 2026, ends the issuance of the training exemptions and requires existing approvals to be rescinded. Affected models include:

• Citation and Citation I
• Citation II and S/II
• Citation V, Ultra, Bravo, Encore and Encore+

The exemptions carry a long history. The FAA first granted a Citation single-pilot exemption in 1984. Over the following decades, training providers received approvals allowing them to train and check pilots, then issue the endorsements needed to operate qualifying aircraft alone.

Why did the FAA pull the exemptions?

A review begun in 2024 uncovered serious problems. The agency found incomplete records, training that did not meet exemption conditions, and improper checks — including falsified records. Several Part 61 exemption holders lost their approvals or were denied extensions because of noncompliance or failure to respond to information requests.

The FAA also cited an accident analysis in concluding that the exemptions no longer provided an equivalent level of safety. That finding underpins Bedford's insistence that any new pathway must clear the same bar.

How have pilot groups responded?

Pilot groups have challenged the decision to withdraw the approvals across the board. In a September letter to Bedford, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association urged the FAA to pause the action and to distinguish compliant operators from those who failed to follow the requirements.

"It makes no sense to punish compliant and safe operators with this order," AOPA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs David Boulter wrote.

AOPA said it supports the FAA's authority to address safety problems but argued that treating operators who meet or exceed the requirements the same as those who violate them does not advance that goal.

What comes next?

Johnson said NBAA is working with the Citation Jet Pilots Association to identify options for affected operators, with the supplemental type certificate route now the leading candidate for formal discussion.

For now, the September 29 deadline stands, and operators of the affected Citation models face a two-pilot requirement unless a certification alternative — or a policy reversal under industry pressure — changes the calculus first.