Regulatory

Currency and Certification Are Part of PIC

Staying legal is as much a part of being pilot-in-command as stick-and-rudder skill. The Federal Aviation Regulations set precise, date-driven rules for when a pilot may carry passengers, act as PIC, or exercise the privileges of a certificate, and missing one of these dates is a violation regardless of proficiency. Because the rules are built on rolling look-back windows and calendar-month expirations, the arithmetic is easy to get wrong in your head. The tools in this category do that calendar math for you and cite the controlling regulation for every answer.

They are planning aids, not legal determinations. The final responsibility for currency and certification always rests with the pilot, who must confirm each result against the current regulation and, where required, a certificated flight instructor or aviation medical examiner.

Which regulatory tool should I use?

Use the pilot currency calculator to check the 90-day passenger-carrying requirement of 14 CFR 61.57, including the separate day and night takeoff-and-landing conditions. Use the medical certificate expiration calculator to determine how long your first-, second-, or third-class medical remains valid under 14 CFR 61.23, where validity depends on your age on the date of the exam and the class of privileges you intend to exercise.

A practical planning workflow

Before a flight with passengers, confirm currency first: enter the dates of your recent takeoffs and landings into the pilot currency calculator to verify you meet the 90-day rule for the conditions you expect, day or night. Then check that your medical certificate will still be valid on the date of the flight using the medical expiration tool, remembering that a certificate expires at the end of the relevant calendar month. When either date is close, plan the required currency flight or medical exam well in advance rather than discovering the lapse on the ramp. Keeping these checks in your preflight routine turns regulatory compliance into a habit rather than a scramble.

Common mistakes to avoid

The classic error is treating a medical as expiring on the anniversary of the exam rather than at the end of the calendar month, which can cost or gain you several weeks. Pilots also conflate the flight review (every 24 calendar months) with passenger-carrying currency (90 days), or forget that night currency has its own definition and look-back. Another trap is assuming BasicMed and a traditional medical are interchangeable for every operation — they are not, and the privileges differ. When in doubt, read the regulation the tool cites.

Limitations & how to verify

These calculators reflect the general Part 61 rules for the most common scenarios; they do not cover every special case, waiver, or operation under other parts of the regulations, and the FAA amends the FARs periodically. Always verify against the current text on the eCFR and consult a CFI or aviation medical examiner for your specific situation. Our methodology and sources pages list the exact regulatory citations behind each result.

Related learning

Currency is only part of a safe flight — pair these tools with the performance calculators and weight and balance calculators to confirm the aircraft is within limits for the flight you are legal to make. The preflight planning checklist puts currency, medical, and performance checks in one place.