The Renewal Process

How often do I need to renew my CFI?

Every 24 calendar months, you must renew your CFI. If you do not renew it, unlike a pilot certificate, it expires! To get it back you must take a check ride, complete with an oral and everything. The moral of the story: don't let your certificate expire.

How do I renew my CFI certificate?

There are 2 ways: 1) In the last 24 calendar months, you must have endorsed at least 5 students for a practical test for a certificate or rating, and had an 80% pass rate for your endorsed students. Or 2) complete a Flight Instructor Renewal Course (FIRC).

Where can I go to attend a FIRC?

There are classroom courses available all across the country. Most of them take 2 full days, at the completion of which you will receive a graduation certificate. Otherwise, there are a number of online FIRC courses that you can complete from the convenience of home, work or while traveling.

Tell me about the FIRC process.

A FIRC consists of 16 hours of information that must be completed. There is material that must be covered and quizzes that must be passed with a 70% or better to continue. Upon completion of a FIRC, you will be issued a FIRC graduation certificate. Now, to turn that graduation certificate into a renewed CFI certificate, that document – along with some other paperwork – must be submitted to either your local FSDO in person, or to an Airmen Certification Representative. And it must be submitted before your certificate expires.

What would I need to bring to a FSDO?

First step is to call your FSDO and schedule an appointment. FSDOs can get quite busy near the end of the month – usually dealing with renewals – so plan ahead! You will need to complete and submit an application on IACRA, then come in with:

• Your FTN and Application ID
• Your FIRC Graduation Certificate
• Your plastic CFI Certificate
• A form of ID

Again, this appointment must happen BEFORE your certificate expiration.

The closest FSDO is 14 hours away; now what?

Many of the FIRC courses have an ACR (Airmen Certification Representative) who can process your renewal on the FAA's behalf. Some of these require physical paperwork, some can utilize IACRA. When planning for and scheduling your first FIRC, ask about the ACR or paperwork processing options; there is usually an additional cost associated with this, but it often saves you time.

How early can I start my renewal?

Anytime. You can renew as frequently as you want and at any month (provided your certificate is unexpired), provided you don't mind having a different date of expiration. If you wish to keep your original expiration date, then you need to complete your FIRC and submit your paperwork no more than three months before the month of expiration. Mind you, that is not three months before the expiration date, but before the expiration month. And, as all CFI certificates expire at the end of the month, that technically means you've got four months before the expiration date. DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!!! Unexpected travel, life events, busy flight schedule, computer/technology issues can always rear their heads, and usually do so at inopportune moments. Completing your FIRC as early as possible insures that unplanned-for events will have minimal impact on your renewal.

How do I figure out what my expiration date is?

For your first CFI renewal, your expiration date will be the end of the month of your last CFI check ride. After that, your renewal month and expiration month are NOT guaranteed to be the same. Renewing three months before the month of expiration means that your month of issue will be three months before the month of expiration. Renewing two months before or one month before will do the same thing. Remember that renewing early like this allows you keep your same expiration month, but your issue date might not be the same month as your expiration.

For example, if you expire in December of 2015 and complete and submit your renewal documentation in September of 2015, you will still expire in December of 2017 next time, but your issue date will be in September.

Changing your address or name a year after your renewal will also change your issue date, but do nothing to your expiration date. Using the above example for your renewal, let's say you get married in February of 2016. You get busy flying, and one day it occurs to you that you have a CFI renewal that might be coming up. So, you look at your issue day – Feb 2016 – and add two years. You're now thinking you expire in Feb 2018. A name change does not renew your certificate – it changes the issue date! In this example, you still expire in December 2017.

The moral of the story: the most accurate way to figure out your expiration date is to read it off the back of your CFI certificate.