FSANA Data Shows Majority of FAA Practical Tests Completed by Small Group of High-Volume DPEs

USA – The Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) has released new data on Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) activity for Fiscal Year 2024/2025, highlighting both increased testing capacity and continued structural imbalances in how practical tests are distributed across the examiner workforce.

• DPEs conducted 153,967 practical test events between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025 — a significant increase from 129,000 in FY2024 and 140,000 in FY2023.

• The total number of active DPEs rose to 1,122, up from 1,035 the previous year.

• 536 DPEs completed between 100 and 400 tests each, reflecting strong utilisation among mid-volume examiners.

• 319 examiners conducted fewer than 50 tests throughout the fiscal year.

• 48 DPEs conducted more than 400 tests, with 22 exceeding 500 tests — demonstrating substantial throughput concentrated in a small segment of the examiner pool.

• FSANA notes that 264 DPEs (23%) conducted 52.9% of all tests, performing 200 or more practical evaluations over the year.

• Despite growth in the overall DPE population, FSANA emphasises that over 28% of DPEs averaged fewer than one test per week, indicating an uneven distribution of testing demand and available examiner capacity.

Source: FSANA