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Airmen Certification Branch

Airman Directory Releasable File

Comma Delimited

January 2020
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Overview

On April 5, 2000, the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21 

st 

Century became Public Law 

106-181. Section 715 of that law requires the Federal Aviation Administration to release names, addresses, and 

ratings information for all airmen after the 120 th 

day following the date of enactment.

The law also requires that the airmen be given an opportunity to elect that their address information be withheld 

from release under this law. Accordingly, the FAA sent letters to all active airmen informing them of the 

provisions of the law, and giving them the option to withhold their address information. The FAA will be 

continuing this procedure for airmen who become active. Responses from the letters have been processed

This file contains the names, addresses, and certificate information of those airmen who did not respond to indicate 

that they wished to withhold their address information. It is the intent of the Airmen Certification Branch to produce 

this file, in its entirety, on a monthly basis. The file may be downloaded from the Civil Aviation Registry web site at

http://registry.faa.gov.
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RELEASABLE PILOT INFORMATION FILES LAYOUT – COMMA DELIMITED FORMAT

Files: PILOT_BASIC.csv and PILOT_CERT.csv

These files contain Basic and Certificate data for Pilot related Certificate Types. They have all fields separated by commas for 

ACCESS databases. Each file has a heading record containing the data field literals. The Unique ID is the key to each record and 

is the link between the 2 files. Each Basic file record has 1 or more active Certificate file records. Certificate Types in this file 

include: P, F, A, U, E, H, and X. The non-Pilot files may contain additional certificate records for the Airman.

FIELD NAME FORMAT LENGTH REMARKS

Pilot Basic record file

UNIQUE ID A 8 1

st position = 'A' or ‘C’ followed by a 7-digit number

FIRST & MIDDLE NAME A 30

LAST NAME & SUFFIX A 30

STREET 1 A 33

STREET 2 A 33

CITY A 17

STATE A 2 Blank if foreign address

ZIP CODE A 10

COUNTRY-NAME A 18

REGION A 2

MEDICAL CLASS A 1 1=First 2=Second 3=Third (Certificate Type “P” only)

MEDICAL DATE MEDICAL A 6 MMYYYY (Certificate Type “P” only)

EXPIRE DATE A 6 MMYYYY (Certificate Type “P” only)

 BASIC MED COURSE DATE A 8 YYYYMMDD

 BASIC MED CMEC DATE A 8 YYYYMMDD

 Pilot Certificate record file

UNIQUE ID A 8 1

st position = 'A' or ‘C’ followed by a 7-digit number 

RECORD TYPE A 2 

CERTIFICATE TYPE A 1 

CERTIFICATE LEVEL A 1 

CERTIFICATE EXPIRE DATE A 8 MMDDYYYY (Certificate Type “F” only) 

RATINGS A 110 Format is 10 positions per Rating (maximum of 11): 

 1

st position = Rating Certificate Level 

 2

nd position = ‘/’ 

 3

rd thru 10th positions = Rating 

Format is 10 positions per Type Rating (maximum of 99): 

 1

st position = Rating Certificate Level 

 2

nd position = ‘/’ 

 3

rd thru 10th positions = Type Rating 

Notes: Files are in Unique ID order.

Only active Certificates are processed; At least 1 Certificate must be active for Airman to be in file.
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RELEASABLE NON-PILOT INFORMATION FILES LAYOUT – COMMA DELIMITED FORMAT

Files: NONPILOT_BASIC.csv and NONPILOT_CERT.csv

These files contain Basic and Certificate data for non-Pilot related Certificate Types. They have all fields separated by commas 

for ACCESS databases. Each file has a heading record containing the data field literals. The Unique ID is the key to each record 

and is the link between the 2 files. Each Basic file record has 1 or more active Certificate file records. Certificate Types in this file 

include: G, M, T, R, I, L, W, D, N, and J. The Pilot files may contain additional certificate records for the Airman.

FIELD NAME FORMAT LENGTH REMARKS

Non-Pilot Basic record file

UNIQUE ID A 8 1

st position = 'A' or ‘C’ followed by a 7-digit number

FIRST & MIDDLE NAME A 30

LAST NAME & SUFFIX A 30

STREET 1 A 33

STREET 2 A 33

CITY A 17

STATE A 2 Blank if foreign address

ZIP CODE A 10

COUNTRY-NAME A 18

REGION A 2

MEDICAL CLASS A 1 1=First 2=Second 3=Third (If has active Certificate Type “P”)

MEDICAL DATE A 6 MMYYYY (If has active Certificate Type “P”)

MEDICAL EXPIRE DATE A 6 MMYYYY (If has active Certificate Type “P”)

 BASIC MED COURSE DATE A 8 YYYYMMDD

 BASIC MED CMEC DATE A 8 YYYYMMDD

Non-Pilot Certificate record file

UNIQUE ID A 8 1

st position = 'A' or ‘C’ followed by a 7-digit number

FIRST & MIDDLE NAME A 30

LAST NAME & SUFFIX A 30

CERTIFICATE TYPE A 1

CERTIFICATE LEVEL A 1

CERTIFICATE EXPIRE DATE A 8 Currently N/A for this file

RATINGS A 110 Format is 10 positions per Rating (maximum of 11):

1

st position = Rating Certificate Level 

2

nd position = ‘/’

3

rd thru 10th positions = Rating

Notes: Files are in Unique ID order.

Only active Certificates are processed; At least 1 Certificate must be active for Airman to be in file.
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Hints for Importing Airman Records into Microsoft Access

There are many programs that can be used to manipulate the data. For the novice or intermediate user, however, we have 

provided the following hints for importing using Microsoft Access which is included in many software packages.

Microsoft Excel does not have enough capacity to manipulate the file. If you know Visual Basic, you can use VB to design 

the import process for the records you want. But if you just want to import the records into Access and then design a query

to get address information for pilots, you may use the following guidelines:

1. Open Microsoft Access. 

2. Cancel out of the Wizard box.

3. Click on File>New and create a new blank data base.

4. Once your blank data base is created, click the NEW button in the data base box.

5. Click IMPORT TABLE.

6. Click OK.

7. In the Import Box, find the unzipped downloadable file on your drive that you wish to import. Add a “.txt” file 

extension to the file name.

8. Click on IMPORT.

9. Access opens the Import Text Wizard. It will detect the file as a comma delimited file and display the first few records.

10. Click NEXT.

11. Access will set the break lines at the points of the commas.

12. Click NEXT.

13. Select “in a new table.”

14. Click NEXT.

15. Name the fields according to the record layout by highlighting each field and naming it. Your version of Access may 

allow you to choose to use the first row as header names.

16. Click NEXT.

17. Let Access assign the primary key. This will let you know the number of records in your table.

18. Click NEXT.

19. Name your table.

20. Click NEXT.

Access will import the table. This will take some time. Your computer will need approximately 600 MB of free disk space 

to create this file, in addition to storage space. We also recommend at least 128 MB of RAM for this process.

Access will give you a message when the file is finished importing. You may then import the other files as separate 

tables. The unique number field is common to both files and can be used to associate the individual records.

The Airmen Certification Branch does not provide technical support. You should contact the software manufacturer for 

specific questions. These hints are simply provided as a guide.
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CERTIFICATE TYPES

The following information is provided in the required sort order and links the associated certificate level:

CERT 

TYPE ABBREV

CERT 

LEVEL INCLUDES

P PILOT A 

C 

P 

V 

T 

S

AIRLINE TRANSPORT PILOT 

COMMERCIAL PILOT 

PRIVATE PILOT 

RECREATIONAL PILOT 

SPORT PILOT

STUDENT PILOT

F CFI FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR

A AUTHINST AUTHORIZED AIRCRAFT INSTRUCTOR

U REM PILOT REMOTE PILOT

G GI GROUND INSTRUCTOR

E FE FLIGHT ENGINEER

H FE 63.23 FLIGHT ENGINEER (Special Purpose–Lessee)

X E 63.43 FLIGHT ENGINEER (Foreign Based)

M MECHANIC MECHANIC

T CTO CONTROL TOWER OPERATOR

R REPAIRMAN REPAIRMAN Up to 5 allowed.

I REPAIR XPR REPAIRMAN EXPERIMENTAL ACFT BUILDER Up to 15 allowed.

L RPMNSPORT REPAIRMAN LIGHT SPORT AIRCRAFT

W RIGGER U 

W

MASTER PARACHUTE RIGGER 

SENIOR PARACHUTE RIGGER

D DISPATCHER DISPATCHER

N NAVIGATOR FLIGHT NAVIGATOR

J NAV 63.23 FLIGHT NAVIGATOR (Special Purpose–Lessee)
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CERTIFICATE RATINGS

RATING RATING DESCRIPTION OBSOLETE

ADV ADVANCED

AIR LIGHTER-THAN-AIR AIRSHIP

AIRCR AIRCRAFT Yes

AIRFR AIRFRAME

AIRPL AIRPLANES Yes

ALL FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION FLIGHT STANDARDS SERVICE INSPECTOR ALL Yes

RATINGS AUTHORIZED

AME AIRPLANE MULTIENGINE

AMEL AIRPLANE MULTIENGINE LAND

AMELC AIRPLANE MULTIENGINE LAND LIMITED TO CENTER THRUST

AMES AIRPLANE MULTIENGINE SEA

ASE AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE

ASEL AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND

ASES AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE SEA

ASME AIRPLANE SINGLE AND MULTIENGINE

BACK BACK

BAL LIGHTER-THAN-AIR FREE BALLOON

BASIC BASIC

CHEST CHEST

ENGINE AIRCRAFT ENGINE Yes

FAR FEDERAL AIR REGULATIONS Yes

GL GLIDER

GLAT GLIDER AERO TOW

GLATGT GLIDER AERO TOW AND GROUND TOW

GLATSL GLIDER AERO TOW AND SELF LAUNCH

GLGT GLIDER GROUND TOW

GLGTSL GLIDER GROUND TOW AND SELF LAUNCH
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CERTIFICATE RATINGS, continued

RATING RATING DESCRIPTION OBSOLETE

GLSL GLIDER SELF LAUNCH

GROUP I GROUP I

GROUP II GROUP II

GYRO ROTORCRAFT-GYROPLANE

HEL ROTORCRAFT-HELICOPTER

HELGY ROTORCRAFT HELICOPTER AND GYROPLANE

INSPT INSPECTION

INST INSTRUMENT

INSTA INSTRUMENT AIRPLANE

INSTH INSTRUMENT HELICOPTER

INSTI INSTRUMENT AIRPLANE AND HELICOPTER

INSTP INSTRUMENT POWERED-LIFT

JET TURBOJET POWERED

LAP LAP

LTA LIGHTER-THAN-AIR Yes

LTO LINK TRAINER OPERATOR Yes

MAINT MAINTENANCE

METEOR METEOROLOGY Yes

NAV NAVIGATION Yes

PLIFT POWERED-LIFT

POWER POWERPLANT

RADIO RADIO NAVIGATION Yes

RECIP RECIPROCATING ENGINE POWERED

ROTOR ROTORCRAFT Yes

SEAT SEAT

SPORT SPORT

SPUR SPECIAL PURPOSE Yes

TPROP TURBOPROPELLER POWERED
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Contact Support

Direct Questions To: http://registry.faa.gov