NBAA, CJP Urge Collaborative Solutions in Request to Pause FAA Citation SPE Rescissions

Contact: Dan Hubbard, 202-431-5970, [email protected]

Washington, DC, Sept. 30, 2026 - In an urgent letter sent this week to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and Citation Jet Pilots (CJP) requested the agency delay by at least 90 days its rescission of single-pilot training exemptions (SPEs) for certain Cessna Citation aircraft.

In a Sept. 29 letter to FAA Flight Standards Service Executive Director Hugh Thomas, the organizations warned the agency's sweeping action could disrupt safe flight operations and undermine access to specialized pilot training.

"A temporary stay would enable the FAA to evaluate specific safety concerns for single-pilot operations, distinguish compliant entities from problematic ones, and work collaboratively with operators/owner-pilots and training providers on a durable solution," stated the letter signed by NBAA Senior Vice President, Operations Heidi Williams and Rob Balzano, CEO of CJP and the CJP Safety and Education Foundation.

The letter comes following the FAA's Sept. 28 Federal Register notice rescinding SPEs issued to pilots of legacy Cessna Citation CE-500, CE-550 and CE-560 aircraft originally certified for two-pilot operations due to what the agency termed "widespread non-compliance" and a spate of recent accidents involving legacy Citation jets.

While supportive of the FAA's safety mission, NBAA and CJP questioned whether the agency had adequately presented the evidence supporting its blanket action. "[T]he FAA did not provide the underlying data to allow it to be independently analyzed," the groups noted, "nor did it address whether the raw numbers from the two datasets invoked were properly comparable."

The associations also noted the FAA did not fully explain how actions involving individual exemption holders apply to other operators. "Notably, the only two specific accidents cited by the FAA includes the Dec. 18, 2025, accident involving Greg Biffle, which the FAA concedes was being operated illegally," the letter stated. "[T]hat facially is irrelevant to the safety of compliant single-pilot operations."

NBAA and CJP emphasized the additional time would preserve the agency's ability to address documented problems while providing critical relief to ongoing operations.

"A temporary stay would not prevent oversight or enforcement against a specific entity presenting a demonstrated safety or compliance concern," they wrote. "But it would avoid immediate, industry-wide consequences for operators/owner-pilots and training providers that would incur irreparable harm despite having safely operated within an FAA-approved and FAA-supervised framework for decades."

Both associations also called for an FAA-industry working group to bring together affected operators and representatives from multiple FAA departments to review that evidence and evaluate alternatives.

"The establishment of a collaborative FAA-industry working group would allow affected operators the ability to review the safety data used as the basis for the policy change and to work with the agency on alternative paths forward," the letter stated.

On Thursday, Oct. 1 at 3 p.m. EDT, NBAA will host an Operational Alert webinar further addressing the SPE rescission and two other recent safety developments. Learn more and register for the free webinar.

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Founded in 1947 and based in Washington, DC, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful. The association represents 10,000 company and professional members and provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), the world's largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at nbaa.org.

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