The FAA DPE application starts in the Designee Management System, but getting designated as a Designated Pilot Examiner takes far more than filing paperwork. A typical airplane candidate needs at least 2,000 hours of pilot-in-command time and 500 hours of flight instruction given, and even a fully qualified applicant won’t be designated unless a local Flight Standards District Office has an operational need for another examiner.1Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8000.95D, Designee Management Policy The full path runs from an online application through a National Examiner Board review, a written knowledge test, an FAA interview and flight check, and a week-long training seminar before you receive a Certificate of Authority.
Who Qualifies to Apply
Every candidate must be at least 23 years old and hold a current Flight Instructor Certificate.1Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8000.95D, Designee Management Policy You need a valid third-class medical certificate at minimum if you’ll be flight-testing in aircraft that require one. BasicMed does not count; the FAA explicitly excludes examiners administering practical tests from BasicMed eligibility.2Federal Aviation Administration. Advisory Circular 68-1A, BasicMed
Flight time thresholds depend on the designation you’re seeking. For a Private Pilot Examiner designation in airplanes — the most common entry point — the numbers are substantial:
- 2,000 hours total pilot-in-command time, with at least 1,000 in airplanes and 300 in the airplane class you want authorization for
- 500 hours of flight instruction given in airplanes, including 100 in the class
- 100 hours of night PIC time
- 300 PIC hours in airplanes within the preceding 12 months
These figures come from FAA Order 8900.2A for airplane PE designations.3Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8900.2A, General Aviation Airman Designee Handbook Rotorcraft, glider, lighter-than-air, and light-sport designations each carry their own hour requirements, generally lower for categories with smaller pilot populations. An Airline Transport Pilot Examiner must hold an ATP certificate and meet additional experience benchmarks beyond the standard PE requirements.1Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8000.95D, Designee Management Policy
What Will Disqualify You
Before your application moves anywhere, the FAA screens your background through the Accident Incident Data System, Enforcement Information System, and other internal databases.1Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8000.95D, Designee Management Policy Certain items stop the process cold:
- A prior designation terminated by the FAA for cause
- Any conviction under local, state, or federal drug or alcohol laws within the past seven years
- Any felony conviction within the past seven years, including military felonies and firearms violations; what matters is whether the offense carried a possible punishment exceeding one year, not the sentence actually served
- Any airman certificate suspended or revoked, or a civil penalty paid for violating FAA regulations
- Being currently under investigation, charged, or facing a pending action for any of the above
A candidate whose airman certificate of any type has been revoked — pilot, flight instructor, mechanic, or otherwise — is permanently ineligible for examiner designation.4Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8900.2, General Aviation Airman Designee Handbook Beyond these hard disqualifiers, the FAA evaluates your overall record as a pilot and flight instructor, including any history of accidents, incidents, and violations.
Submitting the Application in the Designee Management System
All DPE applications go through the FAA’s web-based Designee Management System. There is no paper path.5Federal Aviation Administration. Become a DPE You create a profile and complete a structured application that captures your personal information, airman certificates, ratings, and a detailed breakdown of your flight and instructional experience.
You also scan and upload supporting documentation. That includes legible copies of your pilot and flight instructor certificates, your current medical certificate, and a detailed experience summary, often in the form of a Supplemental Information Sheet, that backs up every hour and rating you’ve claimed.6Federal Aviation Administration. DMS DPE Registration Application Guide The initial audit checks whether your claimed experience actually matches the minimums. Incomplete or inconsistent records will stall your application before it reaches the review board.
National Examiner Board Review and Knowledge Test
Once submitted, your application goes to the National Examiner Board, which evaluates whether you meet the selection criteria for the designation you’re seeking. The NEB notifies you in writing of its determination.7Federal Aviation Administration. National Examiner Board – Designated Pilot Examiner Candidate Application If the board finds you don’t meet the criteria, the process ends there.
If you do meet the criteria, the NEB directs you to take the examiner pre-designation knowledge test at any FAA-approved computerized testing center. The test covers the category applicable to your designation (airplane, rotorcraft, glider, or balloon), and you must score 80 percent or higher.8Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8710.3E, Chapter 2 – Accomplish Initial Designation You have 10 days from the test date to forward your original results, with the testing center’s raised seal, to the NEB.
The knowledge test is not a rehash of your earlier written exams. It tests your understanding of examiner responsibilities, testing procedures, and regulatory standards. Passing it confirms you can evaluate other pilots, not just fly competently yourself.
Waiting in the Candidate Pool
A passing score puts you in the national examiner candidate pool, where your application stays active for two years.7Federal Aviation Administration. National Examiner Board – Designated Pilot Examiner Candidate Application If no FSDO selects you within that window, your application is deleted and you’d need to reapply from scratch.
Sitting in the pool is not the same as being chosen. A FSDO picks a candidate only when it identifies an operational need for another examiner in its jurisdiction. The managing FSDO can review all applications in the DMS database, but selection is driven by local demand, not by how long you’ve waited or how impressive your logbook looks.1Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8000.95D, Designee Management Policy This is where many well-qualified candidates simply time out.
FSDO Interview and Flight Check
When a FSDO does select you, the vetting intensifies. An FAA Aviation Safety Inspector conducts an in-depth interview to assess your judgment, professionalism, and understanding of what examining actually requires, including the ethical obligations that come with representing the FAA Administrator. In most cases you’ll also complete a proficiency flight check with an inspector to confirm your operating competence in the specific aircraft category and class you’d be testing in. The FAA also runs another sweep of its internal databases at this stage to catch anything that has surfaced since your initial application.1Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8000.95D, Designee Management Policy
Initial Training and the Observed Checkride
After clearing the interview and flight check, you attend Initial Designated Pilot Examiner training. It runs in two parts. Part 1 is an online, self-paced series of modules that must be completed before you can enroll in Part 2. Part 2 is an in-person seminar that runs Tuesday through the following Tuesday, with weekends off but independent assignments due, meeting daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.9Federal Aviation Administration. Initial Designated Pilot Examiner Part 1 (Online) – Schedule The seminar covers FAA policies, testing procedures, required documentation, and the standards you’ll apply when evaluating applicants.
Training doesn’t end in the classroom. After the seminar, you administer an actual practical test to a willing applicant while an FAA inspector observes every step: the oral questioning, the flight maneuvers, the paperwork. This observed checkride is the final quality-control check before the FAA trusts you to represent the Administrator independently.1Federal Aviation Administration. Order 8000.95D, Designee Management Policy Once every step is successfully complete, the FSDO manager issues your Certificate of Authority.
What the Certificate of Authority Gives You
The Certificate of Authority defines exactly what you’re allowed to do. It specifies which practical tests and proficiency checks you can administer, down to the aircraft category, class, and type rating level.10eCFR. 14 CFR 183.23 – Pilot Examiners Under that authority you can accept applications for certificates and ratings, conduct the corresponding practical tests, and issue Temporary Airman Certificates to applicants who pass. Those temporary certificates are valid for up to 120 days while the FAA processes the permanent document.11eCFR. 14 CFR 61.17 – Temporary Certificate
Your authority extends only as far as the COA specifies. A DPE authorized for single-engine airplane private pilot tests cannot administer multi-engine checkrides unless that authorization appears on the certificate. Adding new categories, classes, or type ratings later requires meeting additional experience requirements and obtaining a revised COA from your managing FSDO.
Costs to Expect
The FAA does not pay DPEs for conducting practical tests. When a pilot takes a checkride with a DPE rather than an FAA inspector, the pilot pays the DPE directly.12Federal Aviation Administration. Recreational Pilot and Private Pilot Practical Tests The FAA does not regulate what DPEs charge. Private pilot checkride fees commonly range from roughly $600 to $1,300, with geographic variation and more advanced tests commanding higher fees.
On the cost side of becoming one, the initial training seminar carries a registration fee, and you cover your own travel and lodging for the in-person week. You also carry the ongoing cost of maintaining a current medical certificate. DPEs operate as independent contractors, so the Federal Tort Claims Act generally does not cover your actions as an examiner. The FAA’s position is that DPEs are not government employees, meaning if something goes wrong during a test you administered, you bear the liability exposure personally. Professional liability insurance is advisable, though such coverage for aviation examining has historically been difficult to find and expensive.