CFI Currency
TL;DR Someone in the aircraft has to be current and qualified to act as PIC when a CFI is giving instruction, but it doesn’t have to be the CFI.
This post was prompted by the recent change to § 61.57 (no person may act as a pilot in command of an aircraft carrying passengers persons) and the addition of the definition of passenger. Previously a CFI who was not current to carry passengers could conduct training for a pilot who was qualified to act as PIC but not qualified to carry passengers because they were not considered to be a passenger. (Legal Interpretation Kortokrax – (2006) CFI is not a passenger) The new regulations specifically allow for this scenario (described below) and Kortokrax has been rescinded.
I can’t find any regulation that says that in every flight someone has to be Pilot in Command (PIC) but I think that’s because it’s so obvious that they didn’t think a specific regulation is required. They do go into detail about the recency of experience (currency) and medical requirements that are required to act as PIC.
§ 61.2 Exercise of Privilege.
(b) Currency. No person may:
(1) Exercise privileges of an airman certificate, rating, endorsement, or authorization issued under this part unless that person meets the appropriate airman recent experience and medical requirements of this part, specific to the operation or activity.
A CFI holds a type of airman certificate (§ 61.181) and would therefore be required to meet the recent experience and medical requirements of Part 61 but only to the extent that they are specific to the operation or activity. Unfortunately, the FARs don’t go into detail about what they mean by that so I thought I’d give it some thought.
The FARs explicitly say that a flight instructor whose certificate has expired cannot conduct flight training (§ 61.2 Exercise of Privilege) and there is a specific exception for CFIs who are conducting training for landing currency.
§ 61.57 Recent flight experience: Pilot in command.
(5) Paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section do not apply to a person receiving flight training from an authorized instructor, provided:
(i) The flight training is limited to the purpose of meeting the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section; [Landing currency for day and night.]
(ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, the person receiving flight training meets all other requirements to act as pilot in command of the aircraft; and
(iii) The authorized instructor and the person receiving flight training are the sole occupants of the aircraft.
It’s clear (at least to me) that a CFI conducting day VFR training would not be required to be night current. Likewise, a CFI conducting training in a tricycle gear airplane is not required to be current in tailwheels. And not to belabor the point, but a CFII would not be required to be instrument current if they were conducting instrument training in day VFR conditions.
I would even argue that a CFI would not need to have an endorsement for complex or high performance aircraft if the person they are giving training to has the endorsement and is current to carry persons. (In fact, I have received flight training from a newly-minted CFI whose school did not have a high-performance aircraft and so he didn’t have a high-performance endorsement.)
Would a CFI conducting training of a pilot who is current be required to have a medical certificate or Basic Med? It seems obvious to me that a medical certificate is not specific to the operation or activity so the answer would be no. They would require medical currency if they were acting as PIC (e.g. a student pilot or pilot whose BFR had lapsed) or if they were giving instrument training since they would be a required crew member.
Would a CFI conducting training of a pilot who is current be required to have a current flight review? Here the answer is not as clear but I would argue that the fact that the CFI has a valid, current instructor certificate satisfies the requirement that they meet the experience requirements specific to the operation or activity with the same caveats as above.