FAA Renews Guidance for Operator Certification Process – NAAA Assistance Requested for Part 137

It is no secret that applicants for Part 137 Certification have been subject to long wait times for the processing of their application. This is, however, not unique to Part 137. 

Until 2024, certification applicants were added to the Certification Services Oversight Process (CSOP) National Applicant List as soon as the FSDO received their application. In short, they were put in line to await available FAA personnel/resources to process their application. 

In 2024, FAA issued Notice 8900.687, noting an increased trend of certification applicants who were not ready to begin the initial certification process, typically due to a lack of prerequisite paperwork. These unprepared applicants tied up FAA resources, slowing down the process for all. This Notice initiated a new process seeking to remedy the situation, which front-loads the applicant requirements to demonstrate readiness for certification before they are placed in line on the CSOP National Applicant List. 

In an additional effort to alleviate FSDO personnel workload and reduce wait times for applicants, FAA has charged industry organizations and associations, including NAAA, with providing education to applicants on what is needed for a successful initial certification process. 

NAAA, in response to Notice 8900.687 and the above charge, worked with FAA to develop and release a Starting a Part 137 Operation guide which serves this function and provides prospective operators with a more comprehensive overview of the Part 137 certification process. This guide also covers some of the murkier topics specific to Part 137, such as Chief Supervisor vs. Pilot-In-Command Knowledge & Skills and adding additional aircraft to an operator’s Letter of Authorization (LOA) A003. 

Prospective and Current Part 137 operators will also be interested in the guide for its list of Part-137-specific titles of the Flight Standards Informational Management System (FSIMS), essentially the Aviation Safety Inspector’s handbook on certification, airworthiness, Knowledge & Skills and Surveillance. It can be quite handy, when in a debate with your FSDO over an issue, to point them to their own guidance for an answer. 

FAA has reissued the guidance in Notice 8900.687 annually, with Notice 8900.728 in 2025 and most recently with Notice 8900.766 in 2026. It will continue to be re-issued annually until it is incorporated into FSIMS. 

The Starting a Part 137 Operation guide can be found in the Career page of the NAAA website or directly linked here.