FAA LODA Requirement Eliminated

President Biden Signs FY23 Ndaa Just Before Christmas

The legislation includes language that largely reverses a 2021 FAA directive requiring all experimental aircraft owners, pilots, and flight instructors to obtain a letter of deviation authority (LODA) if they wanted to give or receive flight training in experimental aircraft.

The legislation signed by the president does not eliminate the LODA requirement entirely: Lawmakers included language that effectively retains the LODA requirement for flight instructors who provide instruction in experimental aircraft that they own, or in aircraft that are advertised, or otherwise “broadly” offered for flight training or testing.

The new law does eliminate the LODA requirement for all experimental aircraft owners who hire instructors to provide flight training in their own aircraft, or in a borrowed aircraft.

A flight instructor, registered owner, lessor, or lessee of an aircraft shall not be required to obtain a letter of deviation authority from the [FAA administrator] to allow, conduct, or receive flight training, checking and testing in an experimental aircraft if 1) the flight instructor is not providing both the training and the aircraft; 2) no person advertises or broadly offers the aircraft as available for flighty training, checking, or testing; and 3) no person receives compensation for use of the aircraft for a specific flight during which flight training, checking, or testing was received, other than expenses for owning, operating, and maintaining the aircraft.”

With the president’s signature, experimental aircraft owners may resume receiving instruction in their aircraft without having to jump through this frustrating hoop.