New date: Wednesday & Thursday, January 21 & 22, 2026
Same location: Dallas, Texas
Designees have been looking forward to this in-person event, but due to the severe transportation challenges the country experienced the event had to be rescheduled. FSANA is pleased to announce that the new date will be held at the same venue.
If you registered for the original November 2025 date, FSANA will keep your registration fee on record and apply it toward the new date. If you'd rather receive a refund, please send an e-mail request to justin@fsana.com. If you have any questions please contact the FSANA office at 610-791-4359.
We thank you for your understanding and look forward to seeing you at the symposium.
Bringing DPEs together for the fourth time, FSANA is pleased to host its
4th Annual DPE Symposium in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday & Thursday, January 21 & 22, 2026. DPEs, flight school operators, chief flight instructors and anyone serious about becoming a DPE this annual event is for you. The symposium brings DPEs together to help standardization, help individuals who might be interested in becoming DPEs learn more about the process and potential, and bring FAA staff together with attendees to share information about FAA efforts, DPE practices, and currency.
For all you who were at our third Symposium in October 2024, or either of the previous two, we're sure you'll want to return for this 4th edition. If you've never had the opportunity to attend, it's time to see what all the noise is about.
Symposium Program
Detailed session descriptions further down the page. Times and sessions subject to change.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
| 8:00 | Registration Opens |
| 8:30 | Welcome and Opening Remarks |
| 9:00 | FAA Designee Program Update |
| 10:00 | Airman Practical Testing Programs Update |
| 11:00 | What MOSAIC Means for DPEs |
| Noon | Lunch |
| 1:30 | Managing Applicant Scheduling and Practical Test Demand |
| 2:30 | Break |
| 3:00 | 8000.95 and 8900.1 Content of Which a DPE Needs to Be Aware |
| 4:00 | Plans of Action Development and Management [Concurrent session]
How to Become a DPE [Concurrent session] |
| 5:00 | Adjourn |
| 5:30 | Reception and Dinner |
Thursday, January 22, 2026
| 8:00 | Registration Opens |
| 8:30 | IACRA and DMS Best Practices, Tips & Tricks |
| 10:30 | Break |
| 11:00 | Documenting Checkrides: Proper Disapproval Notice Practices |
| Noon | Lunch |
| 1:45 | Working with Training Providers to Best Develop Understanding of What It Takes to Deliver a Good Quality Applicant |
| 3:00 | Standardization Discrepancies in the Practical Testing Landscape |
| 4:00 | When the DPE and/or the Applicant Aren’t Happy with How the Practical Test Went |
| 5:00 | Adjourn |
Attention non-FSANA members
Save $200 now on registration. Join FSANA prior to registering and receive FSANA member rate for the DPE Symposium. For DPEs, FSANA membership is only $150. With the savings on registration, your membership is paid for ... and then some.
Join here!
4th Annual Symposium registration fee
Early Bird by December 31, 2025
| General | FSANA Member |
| $795 pp | $595 pp |
Regular after December 31, 2025
| General | FSANA Member |
| $995 pp | $795 pp |
On-Site
| General | FSANA Member |
| $1,145 pp | $945 pp |
Registration fee refund policy:
Cancel on/before January 7, 2026, receive full refund.
Cancel after January 7, 2026, no refunds will be given.
Register
ONLINE Register here for 2 full days of sessions.
BY EMAIL, FAX, OR POST AVAILABLE SHORTLY. Fill out this PDF form and submit by email, fax, or post.BROCHURE AVAILABLE SHORTLY. Our brilliant graphic designer has taken all the information from this page and turned it into an attractive multi-page PDF. Included is the fillable registration form from above. Save it and share it.
Session Descriptions
FAA Designee Program UpdateFAA staff will provide an update on the current status of the FAA Designated Pilot Examiner program. Topics include metrics of DPE activity from a national perspective, changes in training, designation, deployment and training of DPEs, and expectations of potential changes that might be coming. Discussion of the effect of and process of national office transition will be included.
Airman Practical Testing Programs UpdateFAA staff will discuss upcoming changes expected in the airman testing and certification sector. This will be an opportunity to discuss any recent or coming regulatory changes coming that might affect the administration of practical tests. It will also highlight how some of the changes affect DPE sourcing material for testing and reviewing applicant performance for future testing such as the knowledge test report.
What MOSAIC Means for DPEsA review of changes from MOSAIC regulatory changes and how it affects pilot training, what pilots can do, and how DPEs do their jobs. Many changes have taken place that will be relevant to DPEs testing private pilots and CFIs, and how applicants are able to be eligible for practical tests. The session will review these and allow discussion about how DPEs will and are implementing the changes.
Managing Applicant Scheduling and Practical Test DemandFocusing on current pressures in the practical testing landscape, the session will lead a discussion how the demand is affecting DPE scheduling, best and worst practices being employed, and tools a DPE may be able to utilize to help best maximize their scheduling efforts. Discussion will include topics of how to handle unprepared applicants and poorly performing flight training providers.
8000.95 and 8900.1 Content of Which a DPE Needs to Be AwareA summary of changes of the past couple years of content in the 8000.95 and 8900.1 documents that a DPE needs to be aware of to stay in compliance, do the job properly, and best work with the FAA. There are critical parts of these documents that commonly get overlooked, changes that have happened, and confusion in some circles about what compliance needs to be met. Some presentation material will be given and an open discussion will be had to address questions and concerns.
Plans of Action Development and Management [Concurrent session]
A session focused on structure, content, and development of plans of action, it will be lead by senior DPEs who have been building plans of action for many years and for multiple types of practical tests. While there is no one right way to build your own plan of action, sharing individual practices can help fellow DPEs more effectively and efficiently build their own plans of action for tests. The session will share source materials, build structures, and practices for management and retention of a DPEs own plans of action.
How to Become a DPE [Concurrent session]
This session will be dedicated to the requirements to become a DPE and the overall selection and deployment process. It will be lead by senior DPEs and DPEs who have recently been through the process. The goal of this session will be to educate interested parties about the process of becoming a DPE.
IACRA and DMS Best Practices, Tips & TricksA hands on approach to working in the DMS and IACRA systems, discussion will be related to how DPEs can best manage their work in these systems to be compliant and efficient. DPEs and FAA staff will provide content in this session to help provide good information that will properly document a test activity.
Documenting Checkrides: Proper Disapproval Notice PracticesAbout best practices of creating notices of disapproval, how to make sure a DPE can document missed areas so another DPE would be able to complete the re-test, how not to add in inappropriate material that could show up in an applicants PRIA, and how to make sure it is clear to the applicant and their CFI can clearly understand the areas that were unsatisfactory and need to be retested and what is left to be tested.
Working with Training Providers to Best Develop Understanding of What It Takes to Deliver a Good Quality ApplicantWorking with flight training providers is an important part of providing testing services. DPEs and flight training providers will lead a discussion in this panel about how they can best work together to maximize testing volume allowance while also ensuring positive and compliant testing experiences.
Standardization Discrepancies in the Practical Testing LandscapeAn opportunity for DPEs to discuss any discrepancies that are rumored to be out in the testing landscape, this session will talk frankly about the details of test provision. Topics of how many landings must be completed on particular tests, what instrument approaches may be used to satisfy ACS/PTS requirements, and how to best sequence test flows to incorporate all required tasks will be discussed. Each test is a little bit different, and this will be an opportunity for attendees to ensure the tests are include of all required tasks and work together to best understand requirements. It will be an opportunity to address any "localized" interpretations that may be perceived from local managing offices that may differ from other testing areas.
When the DPE and/or the Applicant Aren’t Happy with How the Practical Test WentThe session will discuss how to handle when things go badly. What happens when the applicant is mad because they failed, doesn’t understand why they got a disapproval, wants their money back, threatens the DPE, spreads things on social media, and much more. The DPE is there to do a job, many applicants think they are there just to give them a certificate they paid for and fail to understand that testing is the purpose. The discussion will also discuss what might be options for the DPE to document this, and when an applicant should actually file a complaint. Not all DPEs do it perfect every time, and it is important for you to know how to handle it if you don’t think you did something correct also. The session will use real world examples on both sides where things went wrong that we can all learn from.
Symposium hotel
FSANA is pleased to host its 4th Annual DPE Symposium at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Marriott.
Symposium attendee accommodation rate is $189/nite plus tax. Room reservation cutoff date is October 28. After October 28 rates may be higher or rooms may be unavailable.
HOTEL INFO AND RESERVATIONS >
