Less than a month after it grounded single-pilot flying in a whole family of older Cessna Citation jets, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has signalled that the door is not closed for good. Speaking at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas this week, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the agency is open to alternatives involving additional pilot training and aircraft modifications that could restore single-pilot operations in certain legacy Citations12.

A possible route back via an STC

The opening came from the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). "We believe that there's some compelling data that might provide a path to allowing single-pilot operations with some training, with an STC", Kristie Greco Johnson, NBAA senior vice president of government affairs, told Bedford21. A supplemental type certificate (STC) is an FAA approval for a change to an aircraft's type design, so such a route would most likely combine specific pilot training with modifications to the aircraft itself2.

Bedford set one condition. "In order to achieve any exemption, the FAA asks one question: Can we find an alternative that will give us an equivalent level of safety?", he said. "If we can't get to at least an equivalent level of safety, we shouldn't be entertaining it." He described the STC approach as deserving further examination. The policy of 29 September remains in force, and the FAA has set no timeline for restoring single-pilot privileges1.

Which Citations are affected

The decision covers the Part 25 transport category variants of the Cessna CE-500 series, which weigh more than 12,500 lb and are certificated for two pilots: the Model 500 Citation and Citation I, the Model 550 Citation II and Bravo, the Model S550 Citation S/II, the Model 552 (Navy T-47A), and the Model 560 Citation V, Ultra, Encore and Encore+3. Valuation company VREF puts the number of affected US aircraft at about 1,2004.

Not every Citation is affected. The CE-501 and CE-551 are certificated under Part 23 and may be flown without a second in command when they carry the additional equipment listed in the FAA-approved flight manual3. The Mustang and the CE-525 family (CJ1, M2, CJ2, CJ3, CJ3+ and CJ4) were certificated as single-pilot aircraft from the start and can still be flown solo by pilots with a single-pilot type rating5.

Why the FAA pulled the exemptions

For more than forty years these two-pilot jets were flown solo under exemption. The FAA granted the first one to Cessna Aircraft Company in 1984, and later to training providers under Parts 61, 141 and 142, which could train and check pilots and then issue a single-pilot logbook endorsement. In a policy statement published in the Federal Register on 28 September and effective on 29 September, the FAA ended that system3.

The agency gave three reasons. A compliance review that began in 2024 found incomplete records, required flight training carried out in advanced aviation training devices contrary to the exemption conditions, and improper checks by designated pilot examiners, including falsified records. Thirteen of the 14 Part 61 exemption holders were refused an extension or lost their exemption. Over 18 years of accident data, single-pilot Part 25 CE-500 aircraft were involved in accidents at approximately twice the rate of single-pilot Part 23 CE-500, 510 and 525 aircraft, a rate calculated per aircraft. And because a training provider has no ongoing link with the pilots it endorses, those pilots may not know when the relief behind their endorsement has ended3.

The FAA also cited two fatal accidents. On 22 May 2025 a CE-500 flown by a single pilot crashed, killing six people on board and injuring eight on the ground; the pilot had received an improper check six months earlier3. That aircraft came down in thick fog in San Diego at 3:47 in the morning after an overnight flight from the East Coast5. On 18 December 2025 a Cessna 550 crashed on landing at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina6, with no qualified second in command on board3. Seven people died, among them the owner, former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle5. Both accidents are still under investigation by the NTSB3. Our earlier report covers the FAA decision itself in detail.

Industry pressure since September

Because the change came as a policy statement that took effect on publication, there was no comment period beforehand3. The reaction followed immediately. In a letter of 29 September to Flight Standards executive director Hugh Thomas, NBAA and Citation Jet Pilots (CJP) asked the FAA to delay the rescission by at least 90 days for compliant operators and to set up a joint FAA and industry working group to develop alternative compliance measures7. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) asked Bedford the same day to rescind exemptions only for operators that fail to meet the standards. "It makes no sense to punish compliant and safe operators with this order", wrote AOPA vice president David Boulter5. CJP has filed Freedom of Information Act requests for the data behind the FAA review8.

Manufacturer Textron Aviation kept to a short statement: "Textron Aviation supports the FAA's commitment to aviation safety and stands ready and available to support customers"9.

What it means for type ratings and crews

Pilots who held a single-pilot logbook endorsement for one of these models can no longer use it. They must fly the aircraft in the two-pilot configuration required by the type certificate data sheet. A proficiency check under section 61.58 completed under the exemption conditions still counts towards the pilot in command requirements for a two-pilot operation3.

That puts the focus on the right seat. Under 14 CFR 61.55, a second in command needs at least a private pilot certificate with the right category and class rating, an instrument rating for IFR flights, and a pilot type rating for the aircraft unless the flight is a domestic operation within US airspace. Within the previous 12 calendar months, the SIC must also have completed familiarisation training on the type, including three take-offs and three full-stop landings as sole manipulator of the controls and engine-out procedures. An "SIC privileges only" type rating can then be issued without a practical test10. CJP chief executive Rob Balzano says operators "are facing challenges securing qualified SICs"4. You can read more about how a type rating works and the roles of captain and first officer.

Owner-pilots versus career pilots

For owner-pilots the impact is mainly financial. VREF president Jason Zilberbrand says the direct operating cost on the company's Citation II profile rises from about USD 1,800 to more than USD 3,200 an hour once a second pilot joins every trip, and dealers report owner-pilots shifting their search to the Mustang, M2, CJ series and the Part 23 Citation 501 and 5514. An STC route, if it materialises, would be most relevant to them.

For pilots building a professional career the picture is different. Every legacy Citation that keeps flying now needs two qualified pilots, and that creates right-seat demand in jets that were often flown solo34. An SIC seat in a two-pilot jet also gives early experience of crew operations, the skill that multi-crew cooperation training prepares you for. The wider debate on crew size, from business jets to the airline flight deck, continues in Europe too, as our report on single-pilot operations in airline cockpits shows. See current pilot jobs in the United States and flight schools in the United States.