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9 Answers

What is a CFIA?

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Flight Instructor

What is a CFIA (In the context of flight instructor ratings)?

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9 Answers



  1. John D Collins on Dec 22, 2014

    I have not seen that acronym before, but guess it might be used for Certified Flight Instructor – Airplane

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  2. Mark Kolber on Dec 22, 2014

    A CFI certificate holder with an Airplane category rating.

    When people are just talking, pilots tend to refer to a certified flight instructor with a single-engine aircraft rating simply as a “CFI.” It works since everyone seems to inderstand it but it is technically incorrect.

    A “CFI” is a certificate. And just like pilot certificates, CFI certificates come with category and class ratings. All of the available pilot and instructor certificates and ratings are listed in 61.5, with the list of flight instructor ratings in 61.5(c). The category ratings are in 61.5(c)(1) and the airplane class ratings in 61.5(c)(2).

    So your “primary” CFI who is limited to teaching in single engine airplanes is actually a CFI-ASE – certified flight instructor with a single engine airplane category/class rating.

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  3. Kris Kortokrax on Dec 22, 2014

    You quite likely have seen this in your logbook or someone else’s logbook.

    61.51(h) requires an instructor to endorse training by signing the logbook and including his flight instructor certificate number and expiration date.

    The certificate number appears on the flight instructor certificate and consists of the instructor’s certificate number followed by the letters “CFI”. This is the certificate number that should be place on endorsements.

    However, we pilots tend to have big egos and are proud of our accomplishments. This is what leads people to endorse with a certificate number that looks like:

    1234567CFIAMSELIRHATP instead of 1234567CFI

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  4. Russ Roslewski on Dec 22, 2014

    To expand on Mark’s answer, there are three generally used “colloquial” abbreviations for flight instructors: CFI, CFII, and MEI. None of these are really accurate.

    CFI, of course, could mean any instructor, including gliders or helicopters/etc., but is usually used to refer to the CFI with the Airplane Single Engine Rating, CFI-ASE

    Likewise, CFII (CFI – Instrument) isn’t really a thing either. The correct abbreviation for a CFI with instrument-airplane privileges would be “CFI-IA”.

    MEI (Multiengine instructor) is similarly misnamed. The correct version would be CFI-AME (Airplane Multiengine).

    Interestingly, I’ve usually seen helicopter instructors referred to correctly, as CFI-RH (Rotorcraft-Helicopter), at least in the world OUTSIDE of helicopter instruction.

    But, people being people, we usually just refer to the above three CFI’s as CFI, CFII, and MEI. In fact, that’s what’s on my business cards and message board profiles. Even though I know it’s technically incorrect, it’s what everybody uses. And apparently I’m helping perpetuate that!

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  5. Brandon McCloud on Dec 24, 2014

    Certified Flight Instructor-Aerobatics is a rating that is often abbreviated as CFI-A.

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  6. Kris Kortokrax on Dec 24, 2014

    No, it is not.

    It is not described in 61.5(c) and you will never see a Flight Instructor certificate issued with that rating.

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  7. Mark Kolber on Dec 25, 2014

    Brandon, what FAR describes the “aerobatic” rating for a pilot or instructor certificate? In fact, can you show us the word “aerobatic” anywhere in part 61? Or maybe a pilot or instructor certificate that says “aerobatic” on the back under the heading “Ratings”?

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  8. Heather McNevin on Jan 05, 2015

    I believe many people use CFI-A to mean aerobatics instructor, even though no such official designation exists. I blame NAFI’s use of the term for some of the confusion
    http://www.masterinstructors.org/application-process/eligibility-requirements/

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  9. Richard Bartlett on Dec 15, 2017

    There is no such certification

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