AFS-12-444-E

July 31, 2012

 Exemption No. 5560I

 Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2000-8180

Ms. Stacey Bechdolt, Esq

Director, Safety and Technical Affairs

Regional Airline Association

2025 M Street, NW.

Washington, DC 20036

Dear Ms. Bechdolt:

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your petition to extend Exemption No. 5560, 

as amended. It explains the basis for our decision, describes its effect, and lists the conditions 

and limitations.

The Basis for Our Decision

By letter dated June 18, 2012, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 

behalf of Regional Airline Association (RAA) for an extension of Exemption No. 5560, as 

amended. That exemption from § 61.3(a) and (c) of Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations 

allows RAA member carriers to establish special procedures that enable an operator to issue 

to its pilot flight crewmembers, on a temporary basis, confirmation of any required pilot and 

medical certificate and photo ID, based on information in the operator’s approved record 

system.

In your petition, you indicate that there has been no change in the conditions and reasons 

relative to public interest and safety that were the basis for granting the original exemption.

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition 

in the Federal Register because the requested extension of the exemption would not set a 

precedent, and any delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to RAA.
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Our Decision

The FAA has amended some of the conditions and limitations to update the exemption to 

reflect new capabilities of FAA Airman Services. While the relief granted does not change 

substantially, the petitioner should review the new text. 

The FAA has determined that the justification for the issuance of Exemption No. 5560, as 

amended, remains valid with respect to this exemption and is in the public interest. Therefore, 

under the authority provided by 49 U.S.C. 40113 and 44701, which the FAA Administrator 

has delegated to me, I grant your petition, subject to the following conditions and limitations.

Conditions and Limitations

1. This exemption is issued for the purpose of preventing cancellation of scheduled air 

carrier flights in situations where a pilot flight crewmember’s FAA pilot certificate, 

FAA medical certificate, and/or photo identification are valid but physically

unavailable. The privileges of this exemption are intended for situations where pilots 

have no access to airman services at the faa.gov website for receiving via FAX or 

internet download FAA-issued documents containing temporary authority to exercise 

certificate privileges. 

2. This exemption allows RAA member carriers to develop and issue to a pilot flight 

crewmember a document confirming his/her FAA-issued pilot and medical 

certification. The document issued by the RAA member carrier must be in the pilot 

flight crewmember’s physical possession when exercising the privileges of the 

exemption and must contain the following information:

a. The pilot flight crewmember’s certification information from his/her pilot and 

medical certificates.

b. The exact text or a photocopy of this exemption.

c. The RAA confirmation document must include the following statements:

i. “Issued under the authority of Exemption No. 5560.”

ii. “Expires [insert date/time 72 hours after issuance].”

iii. “The privileges of this exemption may be exercised only for flights 

within the District of Columbia and the 48 contiguous United States.

iv. “The privileges of this exemption may only be exercised for scheduled 

air carrier flights. The privileges of this exemption may not be 

exercised for operations under Part 91, Part 91 Subpart K, or for 

unscheduled flights operated under Part 135.”

3. Before conducting operations under this exemption, the RAA member carrier must 

receive approval from its FAA principal operations inspector (POI) for the procedures 

the RAA member carrier expects to employ in issuing a confirmation document to 

pilot flight crewmembers who do not have in their personal possession the required 

pilot and/or medical certificate or photo identification. These procedures must include 
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a method to ensure positive identification of the pilot flight crewmember when the 

pilot no longer has photo identification. 

4. Each pilot flight crewmember who operates a flight under this exemption must:

a. As soon as practicable, obtain from airman services at the faa.gov website a 

document containing temporary authority to exercise certificate privileges.

b. If the pilot flight crewmemember’s FAA pilot and medical certificate are 

permanently lost or destroyed, the pilot flight crewmember must comply with 

the requirements of § 61.29 and ensure a request for replacement certificate 

from the FAA is made within 72 hours of the initiation of any flight conducted 

under this exemption. The RAA member carrier is authorized to make this 

application to the FAA on behalf of the pilot flight crewmember.

c. The pilot flight crewmember must provide a copy of FAA-issued documents 

containing temporary authority to exercise certificate privileges to the RAA 

member carrier within 24 hours of the receipt of that document.

The Effect of Our Decision

Our decision extends the termination date of Exemption No. 5560, as amended, to 

November 30, 2014, unless sooner superseded or rescinded. 

Sincerely,

/s/

John M. Allen

Director, Flight Standards Service