CFI Expired? How to Reinstate it?

How do I go about renewing or reinstating my CFI certificate?

Many Pilots cum Flight Instructors, when they move on to the airlines’ business end up letting their CFI certificate expire. And then down the road when a need or the passion rekindles again, they realize that it has to be reinstated. So, the question arises: How do I go about renewing or reinstating my CFI certificate? Note that this discussion is about the expired flight instructor certificates. If yours has not expired yet, then you should also read the 10 ways to renew your CFI certificate.

Here is a list of a few things you need to know about the expired flight instructor certificates, and how to reinstate them (or renew them):

Flight Instructor certificates expire every 24 calendar months. If not renewed before the expiration date, then you have to go through reinstatement procedure.
To reinstate a CFI certificate (irrespective of the ratings you have on it, i.e. CFII, MEI) you have to take a checkride with either an FAA DPE or an FAA Inspector. In either case, it is a checkride with oral and flight portion.
Most FSDOs have authorized DPEs who can conduct your CFI reinstatement checkride and upon successful completion issue you a new temporary CFI certificate with all the ratings you originally had on it. You can try getting a “free” checkride out of the FSDO inspector, but from my experience, it is very difficult. There is a reason why they have DPEs authorized for this purpose. But your mileage may vary from FSDO to FSDO.
You may take most of the CFI reinstatement checkride in a non-complex aircraft, but you will still have to do the takeoffs and landings, and emergency procedures in a complex aircraft. So if you are planning to go this route, make sure you have 2 aircraft available at the time/place of the checkride, and you are ready to prove the airworthiness of both aircraft, and that you have the POHs mastered for both aircraft as well.
The CFI reinstatement checkride will definitely cover the VFR maneuvers, like ground reference maneuvers, emergency procedures, slow flights and stall etc. Think about it, if you are going to get your CFI certificate back, you are getting all those privileges back as well. And we want you to be safe, so use this as an opportunity to brush up and get back in shape.
Now, if you are missing a rating on your expired CFI certificate, for instance, instrument airplane, or multi-engine, then you may want to think about getting your CFII and/or MEI rating added on. This way you won’t have to take any reinstatement checkride, and your add-on rating checkride will get you your CFI certificate reinstated.

So, what is the best way to get the CFI reinstated?

Here is a list of a few things you need to know about the expired flight instructor certificates, and how to reinstate them (or renew them):

Go find yourself a good flight instructor or a school and go through some ground and flight training, take your CFI reinstatement checkride and you are done! This is the fastest and easiest way.
Go find yourself a good flight instructor or a school and go through some ground and flight training, take your CFI reinstatement checkride and you are done! This is the fastest and easiest way.
Before you schedule any training session, I would recommend that you read through the latest FAR/AIM sections pertinent to the CFI checkride, Airplane Flying Handbook (front to back), Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (front to back), Fundamentals of Instruction (front to back).
Also, if your instrument knowledge and skills have deteriorated, might as well review the Instrument Flying Handbook and get your knowledge up to the par.
The 2 steps that I stated above – will make your and your instructor’s life easy, and save you a lot of time and money. It is recommended that you take a CFI Refresher Course (not required, but very helpful) online, or at some school (16 hours) to review all the knowledge as stated above.
For the ones who are missing a rating on the CFI certificate, your best bet is to simply get your CFII or MEI (and in some cases your single-engine add-on) ratings. Kill 2 birds with one stone.
Lastly, do not let this happen to you again! Even if you are not in teaching the aviation business anymore.

Refer: 14 CFR 61.183 and 14 CFR 61.199

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Roman Lewicki

2024-08-05

I had the pleasure of attending CFI Academy in Lodi, and I can confidently say that it was a transformative experience for my aviation career. Thanks to their excellent training program, I am now a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) based in Santa Barbara. The training environment is both supportive and challenging, fostering a sense of camaraderie among students while pushing us to achieve our best. I highly recommend CFI Academy to anyone serious about pursuing a career as a flight instructor.

Sean Hagmaster

2024-07-27

Great experience at CFI academy. Prince’s knowledge is second to none, as is the company’s ability to secure checkride dates in a challenging environment. Go here if you're ready to work hard and have what you thought you knew about aviation completely picked apart. Learned more in one month than i had in the past year at other schools.

Anthony Mainiero

2024-07-10

I had an excellent experience at the CFI Academy in Lodi, CA. The knowledgeable and well-resourced instructors are dedicated to preparing students for their checkrides. The lead instructor brings a wealth of information and good humor to the training, having trained CFIs for decades. The academy's three-week CFI-initial program was exactly as advertised. It includes approximately 10 hours of flight time (I got a little more, at no extra charge), plus an aircraft rental for the checkride, and unlimited ground instruction time. There was no charge to slow down and stay at the academy longer if needed. I took 9 consecutive days off of the program to deal with some matters back at home, and it took me 29 days to complete the program. I will emphasize that those delays were due to my own choices—I was offered a checkride date which fell before the end of the third week, but for my own reasons, I chose not to take it. The program is ideal for students who are prepared, good at studying, and academically minded. The day-to-day typically involves a couple of hours of instructor-led lessons, an hour or two of student-driven lessons (practicing teaching the ACS topics), and several hours of assigned reading. The learning is at times student-driven, so the ideal student will know their weaknesses and be prepared to utilize the resources at their disposal to focus on filling their knowledge gaps. I will say, this program may not be for everyone. It is fast-paced, at times stressful, and there are high expectations. Expect to be doing a lot of public speaking (teaching ACS lessons in front of the class) to build confidence for the checkride. At the end of the day, I think you will get out of this program what you put into it. I dedicated myself to it, studying from the time I arrived in the morning up until I went to sleep at midnight; and repeated this process for the first week until I had exhausted all of the resources available to me. I was constantly asking for more homework, and diving as deep as I could, because I felt it would be a disservice to myself not to. I asked a lot of questions to ensure I had a thorough understanding of the material. If you show up unprepared, or don't engage in the learning, expect it to take longer than three weeks.

Cameron Stong

2024-07-09

I highly recommend CFI academy for flight training. I did CFI and I was very well prepared for my checkride. I do recommend having a good foundation of ground knowledge prior to coming here for CFI as I did which made my time here more smooth then if I needed to learn more information. I feel very confident with my teaching abilities going forward because of CFI academy.

Ted Chung

2024-06-27

Prince was an awesome ground instructor, and Wyatt and Kyle helped me with the flight portion. I wasn't ready since I got my commercial a long time ago, but I was able to take my time to make sure I felt confident before I decided to go. The DPE situation is better than anywhere else. Just make sure you have knowledge of private and commercial before you start. Then they will help you pass the checkride! It was a very pleasant experience. I will definitely go back for my CFII

greg locklin

2024-06-15

Great experience! Really helpful towards becoming a CFI. Very knowledgeable instructors and will help build confidence need to become a flight instructor.

Andrew Tapia

2024-06-12

Passed CFI checkride with CFI Academy. I couldn’t have done it without the level of instruction provided through this school. They have a great culture here where the students best interest are valued.

Emanuel Dennis

2024-05-24

Really great experience with everyone. Prince is a well knowledgeable instructor and will get you where you need to be and ready for your checkride. Best experience in flight training I have had here at CFI academy

David Cudeck II

2024-05-24

CFI Academy really did an amazing job at developing me as a new Instructor. I did some instructor training at my previous flight school and I’m so glad that I decided to move forward with CFI Academy. Prince, the instructor you’ll be mostly working with on the ground tells the class that he could easily have applicants ready in 1.5-2 weeks but he really wants to develop GOOD instructors who really have a deeper understanding of the knowledge we will teach future students. So that’s why he adds that extra week in there. All of the staff, including the other instructors and admin really know what they are doing. It’s definitely not their first time preparing CFI applicants. I personally had a great experience. Unfortunately I did have to wait a little longer for my checkride, and that wasn’t because of a lack of effort in scheduling. I’m sure as many aspiring CFIs should know, you can’t always just have a checkride ready right when you are ready. But I still got it done insanely faster than most places do. This is the place to go for getting your CFI.

Alexander Sia

2024-03-07

Definitely one of the best flight schools out there! I’ve been to multiple flight schools in CA, and I can say this is one of my home flight schools if that makes any sense. They helped me get my CFI within 3 weeks which is crazy! Most DPE’s can be booked for months! Again the fact that I was able to get a check ride slot within 3 weeks is absolutely insane! And now let me talk about the chief flight instructor Mr Prince! Mr. Prince is by far one of the most knowledgeable & experienced instructors I have ever met. He really makes you critically think, and makes you think of the whys and how of things. It’s one thing to say yes or no, but to explain in great detail why that is, is what truly makes great instructors as well as having the ability to be patient with your student! With that said, the instructors here are very passionate about aviation, they love to help others, they are respectful, and they want you to learn/succeed. I truly loved the environment, I was able to get out of my comfort zone, grow as a person and as a pilot, make friends as well as meaningful connections. Thankful that I was able to do my CFI training at CFI Academy in Lodi, CA. With all that said, one big advice I would give is to new CFI candidates is to get the FOI and FIA Knowledge tests done before hand or before enrolling. This will allow you to have and spent more time teaching, creating lesson plans, making printed or hand written lesson plans, drilling the FOI fundamentals, and the list goes on. Time management is the key!!

CFI Expired? How to Reinstate it?