TSA Flight Training Security Program Rules for Flight Schools

The TSA Flight Training Security Program (FTSP), in 49 CFR part 1552, applies to every flight training provider, including Part 61 instructors working on their own and schools that train only U.S. citizens. Before you train anyone, you must establish that the person is a U.S. citizen or U.S. national by examining government-issued documents, a Department of Defense endorsee, or a candidate with a valid TSA Determination of Eligibility (49 CFR 1552.7).

You also need a Security Coordinator registered with TSA through the FTSP Portal, security awareness training for staff within 60 days of hire and at least every 2 years, and records kept for at least 5 years (employee training records follow a separate 1-year rule). This guide walks through each requirement as the regulation reads in the eCFR. It isn't legal advice, and TSA posts program details on the FTSP Portal that the regulation only points to, so check the current program requirements with TSA before you change your procedures.

Who the TSA flight training security program covers

The rule defines a flight training provider broadly (49 CFR 1552.3). It includes any pilot school, flight training center, air carrier flight training facility, or individual flight instructor certificated under 14 CFR parts 61, 121, 135, 141, or 142. It also reaches certain foreign-certificated providers training in the U.S., and lessors of aircraft or simulators for flight training who aren't already covered as a school or instructor.

So a freelance CFI who teaches out of a club airplane is a provider. A Part 141 school is a provider. A Part 61 school with 3 airplanes and 4 instructors is a provider.

The rule also applies to flight training provider employees: anyone who works for you, paid or volunteer, and has direct contact with flight students and candidates. That includes instructors, other authorized representatives, and independent contractors.

A note on terms: the rule calls a non-citizen who applies for training a "candidate." A February 2026 technical amendment changed the regulation's wording to the statutory term "alien," so older guides may say "non-U.S. citizen" instead.

What counts as flight training

"Flight training" means instruction in a fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft or aircraft simulator to obtain a new skill, certificate, or type rating, or to maintain a pilot certificate or rating. The definition excludes:

• Balloons, gliders, ultralights, and unmanned aircraft
• Ground training
• Demonstration flights for marketing purposes, which the rule defines to include an orientation, familiarization, or discovery flight that demonstrates your training program
• Simulated flights for entertainment
• Training provided by or under contract with the DoD or the U.S. Coast Guard

Two points are easy to miss. First, the "maintain a pilot certificate or rating" language means you shouldn't assume training for licensed pilots is outside the rule. Second, section 1552.7 covers access to flight training equipment, not just instruction. If you have a question about a specific kind of flight, such as a checkout or a flight review, ask TSA.

U.S. citizens: verify before the first lesson

Under 1552.7(a)(1), you must examine the person's government-issued documentation as proof of U.S. citizenship or U.S. nationality before training. A student who claims to be a U.S. citizen or national and doesn't provide valid, acceptable documents must be denied flight training.

TSA publishes the list of acceptable documents on the FTSP Portal. Schools commonly ask for an unexpired U.S. passport, or a U.S. birth certificate or naturalization certificate together with government-issued photo ID, but check TSA's current list before you write it into your enrollment procedure. Two common mistakes:

• A pilot certificate is not proof of citizenship. The FAA issues them to non-citizens too. The same goes for a standard driver's license.
• A lawful permanent resident is not a U.S. citizen. A green card holder is a candidate under the rule and needs a Determination of Eligibility, though their training events qualify for expedited processing.

Do the check at enrollment, before the first lesson is booked, not at the airplane. The student who shows up at 7 AM without their passport doesn't fly, and the instructor shouldn't be the one deciding that on the ramp.

Three ways to record the verification

Section 1552.15(c) gives you three options:

1. Keep your own record documenting that you verified citizenship or nationality.

2. Make a logbook endorsement in both the instructor's and the student's logbooks. The regulation gives the wording:

   "I certify that [insert student's full name] has presented to me a [insert type of document presented, such as U.S. birth certificate or U.S. passport, and the relevant control or sequential number on the document, if any] establishing that [the student] is a U.S. citizen or U.S. national in accordance with 49 CFR 1552.7(a). [Insert date and the instructor's signature and certificate number.]"

3. Keep copies of the documents themselves.

If you use your FTSP Portal account to confirm or manage citizenship verifications, the rule says you don't need separate electronic or paper copies (1552.15(e)(2)).

Candidates: Determination of Eligibility and training events

A candidate must complete a TSA security threat assessment and receive a Determination of Eligibility before starting flight training (1552.31). The candidate applies through the FTSP Portal and pays the fee. As the provider, you:

• Get an FTSP Portal account if you train candidates, and confirm through the portal that the candidate's Determination of Eligibility is valid.
• Notify TSA of every proposed and actual training event through the portal, with the candidate's name, the rating or ratings they could receive, estimated start and end dates, and training locations (1552.51).
• Wait before starting. Training may begin once more than 30 days have passed since TSA acknowledged the notification, or more than 5 business days if TSA confirms the candidate qualifies for expedited processing. Expedited processing covers holders of an FAA or recognized foreign pilot certificate with a type rating, employees of air carriers with TSA security programs, people with unescorted access to an airport secured area, and lawful permanent residents.
• Photograph the candidate when they arrive for training, and upload the photo within 5 business days.
• Update the event with actual start and end dates and locations, and report training that wasn't completed, with a brief reason.
• Stop immediately if TSA issues a Determination of Ineligibility or tells you the candidate is a security threat, and acknowledge those notices in the portal.
• Tell TSA if you learn a candidate is involved in an alleged disqualifying criminal offense, is no longer permitted to remain in the U.S., or otherwise may pose a security threat.

A Determination of Eligibility expires 5 years after it was issued, or earlier in some cases, including when the candidate's authorization to stay in the U.S. ends first. No candidate may train on an expired one. Put both dates in the student's file where the person booking lessons will see them. For DoD endorsees, you confirm identity against the endorsement through the portal instead.

The Security Coordinator and the FTSP Portal

Every provider must designate a primary Security Coordinator at the corporate level (1552.9), whether or not it ever trains a candidate. The coordinator:

• Is your primary contact with TSA for security information
• Must be reachable by TSA 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Coordinates security practices internally and with law enforcement and emergency responders
• Completes the security awareness training described below
• Knows how to quickly reach the local TSA office, the local FBI office, and local law enforcement

Coordinator contact information goes to TSA through the FTSP Portal (the original deadline was November 1, 2024), and changes must be reported within 5 days. A one-person CFI operation can name the instructor as coordinator, as AOPA's summary of the rule notes.

For providers operating under Part 61, as an individual CFI or a group of CFIs, the FTSP Portal account administrator must hold an FAA certificate. Providers under parts 121, 135, 141, and 142 don't have that requirement (1552.17).

Security awareness training

Every employee with direct contact with flight students must complete initial security awareness training within 60 days of hiring, and refresher training at least every 2 years (1552.13). Initial training must require the employee's direct participation, in person or online, and include situational scenarios. It has to cover:

• Restricted areas at your operation and airport, and who's authorized to be there
• Suspicious behavior, such as unusual interest in aircraft capabilities or restricted airspace, aeronautical knowledge that doesn't match someone's certificates, or a student suddenly ending training
• Signs that a candidate is training without a Determination of Eligibility
• Suspicious activity by others on site, and suspicious circumstances involving aircraft
• How employees should respond, including when to tell a supervisor and the Security Coordinator
• Anything specific to your operation

The refresher repeats those elements and adds your new security procedures, recent incidents and lessons learned, new threats, and new TSA requirements. Instructors aren't the only people with direct student contact. If your desk staff check students in and hand out keys, plan on training them too.

What records to keep, and for how long

Records must be available to TSA for inspection and copying on request, and you must give current and former employees proof of their training at no charge when they ask. The rule allows paper records, or electronic records "using methods approved by TSA." If you keep scans in your school software rather than in the FTSP Portal, ask TSA whether your method meets that standard.

A front desk checklist

• Security Coordinator named, with current contact details in the FTSP Portal
• Written list of acceptable citizenship documents, matching TSA's current list
• Citizenship check done and recorded at enrollment, before the first lesson is booked
• Lawful permanent residents and other non-citizens routed to the candidate process, not the citizen process
• Every instructor and student-facing employee trained within 60 days of hire, with the refresher date on the calendar
• Candidate files showing the Determination of Eligibility, its expiration, and the authorized-stay date
• A records location you could hand to a TSA inspector this afternoon

Where software helps, and where it doesn't

Software can make the paperwork hard to skip. In Sky Schedule, you can have students upload their passport or birth certificate and photo ID during online enrollment, staff review and mark documents verified, and you can require onboarding to be complete before a student can book. The TSA report in our flight school compliance software previews your roster, flags anyone who has flown with no paperwork on file, and downloads a ZIP of each person's ID documents with a summary.

What software doesn't do is verify citizenship, file with TSA, or replace the FTSP Portal. A person at your school examines the documents and makes the call. Our student pilot onboarding checklist covers where this fits among the other documents you collect.

Your next step

Log in to the FTSP Portal and confirm your Security Coordinator details are current. Then pull a list of everyone who has flown with you in the last 90 days and confirm each one has a citizenship verification record or a valid Determination of Eligibility on file. Check every instructor's and desk employee's security awareness training date. If anything is unclear, check the current program requirements with TSA through the FTSP site.

Last reviewed October 8, 2026, against the eCFR text of 49 CFR part 1552 current as of October 6, 2026.